Do you sometimes feel like you are going through life like a trapeze artist? That everything you do is a series of trapeze swings and you are either swinging along gracefully while hanging onto the bar or hurtling through the air in between two or more bars? If you are as afraid of heights as I am, these metaphorical images may make you think of nothing else other than hanging on for dear life when you would much rather be in control.
"The Greatest Showman", the recently released musical celebrating the birth of not only the circus, but also of show business itself, tells the story of P.T.Barnum, the visionary who created the worldwide circus spectacular. I have not yet seen the movie, but I have enjoyed the trailers, particularly the scenes featuring the love duet performed by actors Zendaya and Zac Efron which was staged on a flying trapeze. The scene looks visually stunning. Zendaya, who did her own trapeze stunts in the movie, spent many months training for the death-defying trapeze scenes and while she certainly looks incredibly confident and makes it all look so easy, graceful and effortless, what we do not see in the movie are the many bruises she sustained during filming. Apparently, Zendaya and Zac were constantly (and unintentionally) body slamming into each other while they were working on the filming. Zendaya told Jimmy Fallon during her recent appearance on his talk show that in order to film the trapeze scene, she and Zac needed to trust each other and had to learn how to balance on one another.
Doesn't that explain just what you need to have in order to have a successful relationship with someone? Trust and balance seem like the essential ingredients to flying through life together. I think that in order to move forward in life, you also need to have balance and trust in yourself. Much like a trapeze artist, when we are merrily swinging along in our lives, we need to look out ahead in the distance and see what is coming towards us. The trapeze bar ahead may look empty with nothing on it, but what that bar really represents is the next step in your life...just ahead and waiting for you to grab it. Like a trapeze artist, in order to move forward, you have to release your grip on the present (the bar you are already comfortably gripping) in order to move ahead and grab the next one. It is human nature to not want to completely let go of your "old bar" before you reach out and grab the new one.
If you watch Zendaya closely, you will see that for a very short time, she is flying through space before she is able to grab onto the next bar. When they filmed the movie, they used two ropes and no harnesses! It must have been terrifying!
Are you terrified of "flying without a net" where there are no guarantees, no insurance policy and no Zac Efron to hold you in case you fall? It certainly can be terrifying to grab that new bar, especially when you are forced to let go of the old bar in order to fully transform and fly through space to get to the next one. As the new year approaches, it may be time for you to finally trust your instincts and take the leap forward. By doing so, you just may learn how to defy gravity.
As Glinda and Elphaba sing to each other in this epic song from the Broadway Musical "Wicked", "Together we're unlimited. Together we will be the greatest team that ever lived."
I will be your Glinda...I will be your Zac Efron...call me so together we can work on your unlimited possibilities in 2018.
I am wishing you the very best new you in the new year!!