Welcome to a New Year! Welcome to truly living in the now. Welcome to no longer procrastinating to the point of rushed endeavors. Welcome to 2022.
Something tells me that I'm not alone. Not alone with the idea that there is something else to this life that we have not experienced. In my 42 years, with all that I haven't done. I ask myself, "Have you even lived 1/3 of the life that you COULD be living. Do I really know what I like in this world? Do I even know myself when I don't know what I could become?" As humans, we become versions of the people around us and we are shaped by the experiences that flow through and around our unique individualities. We have a base persona but the spirit of exactly who we are is continually fluid and ever changing. Living, truly grabbing the melodic verse of the beauty in our world; is a collection of unique experiences, mesmerizing treats for the senses, and nonsensical occurrences that as C & C Music Factory from my childhood would say are, Things that Make you go Hmmmm.....
Last night, I kicked off my 2022 plan that my dearest friend thought of. Choose something new every month and do it. No matter what, Do it! That is the plan. We are taking charge and being proactive of our experiences. This month, my something new had a focus on the historical Roxy Theater. I have lived in this city well over half my life and have never seen a Live Performance in this building. Sheryl Crow filmed her famous music video for "All I Want to do is have some fun" in front of this theater. Not many people know that I was a performer in my youth and have been aching to sit in those red seats and watch some magic unfold in a live theater setting. Yes! For January's Something New I was going to the first play I could.... I'm going to The Vagina Monologues. It was not at all what I expected.
Since all new things are, well, new.... and there is the potential for awkwardness in new... I asked my adventure partner, my mom to join. Good thing I did! More to come on that later...
So, My mom and I set out to have our very first #Trysomethingnew2022 adventure! We were hungry so it only makes sense to go to a restaurant we haven't ever tried on New Day. Mickey's Downtown had a nice bohemian craft beer selling vibe. Their niche appeared to be fancied up versions of kids food. I picked the jalapeño popper grilled cheese sandwich and Mom got the buffalo chicken grilled cheese. It was, okay in my opinion. We both only ate one half. Later the next day, my 16 year old ate them both and said the Buffalo chicken sandwich was better. We won't talk about how he just ate my leftovers without asking... did I mention he was a teenager? Final review for Mickey's: On the sliding scale of Frowny Face Yuck to Best thing in my Mouth EVER.... It was OK yet OK enough to be mad when someone eats yours and that person isn't you.
We took in the chilly air as we walked around downtown wasting time until the show. Some shops were closed, many buildings were empty, a staple is being rebuilt, and some were welcoming the community in to browse their merchandise and have pleasant conversation. Quaint little bookstores with whimsical appeal, boutique eccentric food store, classic historical store fronts to modern business offices establish the true small town Main St, America.
Once our downtown stroll and perusing was complete we made our way to the familiar lighted sign that needs some love.
The Roxy had it's start in the early 1900's as The Lillian theater. This corner used to be home to Clarksville's Music and Entertainment scene. The Lillian went through 2 fires, was closed in the Great Depression and reopened as The Roxy in 1947. This was the spot Clarksvillians would go to watch movies until 1980. Today, it's a live Playhouse and in the decades I have lived here, I had not seen a live show there. This was the first thing on my 2022 Bucket List. My anticipation was that I would be sitting in the red seats in the main theater where many shows have been watched before me. No, that isn't what I got. More on that soon.
But we open the doors, we pick up our tickets and we grab a Blackhorse beer (community helping community) and sit and wait until it's time to "take us upstairs." I am so confused.... but, I get more time to talk to my mom. SO, we talk... and we talk." It's 10 minutes to 7 so we gather and go with the group, there was only about 10 of us, back outside on the street and into another door that takes us up stairs and into a small room with a stage. 4 women were on that stage seated ranged young to older and thin to bigger and light to darker, hetero and homosexualities, strong to strong. They were to resemble every woman with stories from every woman. With all the diversity the one constant is strength. Back to the room though, it's dark, small and had a very 1960's beatnik underground (even though we are upstairs) feel to it which was fitting for this play of spoken word prose we were about to witness. My mind wonder what other genres of performance has been in this room. With so few people in the audience and being so close to the actors, I felt the performers were speaking just to my mom and I and they sure said the word Vagina alot. But the message rang loud and clear, embrace the word... and all the sadness, fears, and happiness that comes with having one. Embrace the word and you give it power for those that have had their power ripped from them. The power of being a woman.
As for the show itself, I expected to laugh a lot more than I did. However, when I did laugh, I laughed pretty dang hard. The best part of the experience was yelling the C word with my mom over and over. I've come to know my mom on such a different level these passed years and watching her have a spark of zest with reckless abandon is inspiring. The show only lasted about an hour and a half with no intermission and then we called it a night.
There we go! My first #trysomethingnew2022 thing of the year! I definitely learned from this experience. I learned that some things may not be what you thought they would be when trying something new. I am thankful I went to this show even though the event was far from what I imagined. I do however want to see a different show at the Roxy in the main theater. I've left this new experience with a deeper sense of pride for being a woman than I already have (girl power!) another positive memory with my mom, more time spent in a piece of history, and the motivation to find my next New Something!
