"With a Conscience" - "The Rites of Passage..."

"You know the fairy-tale drill, especially from the Disney versions: the heroines endure awful stuff in rites of passage that lead to a joyous resolution of, usually, marriage to a prince. 'Into the Woods' follows that template, then asks, 'What happens after Happy Ever After?'

-Richard Corliss

        I believed in fairytales as a chid.  I took the plight of Snow White and Aurora ("Sleeping Beauty" seriously.  The seven dwarfs in "Snow White" were particularly interesting for obvious reasons.   I felt that these characters could find happiness so could anyone.  Was that naive? Probably...but here's the truth, there are so many celebrations and grievances in our lives that we become tired trying to keep track.  Are these tiresome spells part of everyone's llves? Absolutely. I now consider them my rites of passage.

        I witnessed many times over the decades, the imperfections and the frustrations of human nature.  I also witnessed huge jubilations and happiness.  I will never forget either experiences.  They have made me who I am at this point.  

        I consider myself so lucky to have walked on a stage so many, many, many times in my life. There was exhaustion, fear, and over-whelming joy.  It was an honor to make so many laugh and feel some assemblance of identity.  I consider myself lucky to have taught teens for over 20 years...Exhausted, anxious and then, yes, sheer joy with so many moments that will stay with me until the end of my days.

    The lessons of life are in fact the "rites of passage."  The triumphs and the heartaches are destined to each one of us.  The real question is "How do we cope?" What measures do we need in place to keep forging ahead. I am willng to bet that time is the key.  I have been told many times that it is my impatience that can be the downfall.  I have to be willing to wait.  The expectations can not be unrealistc but realistic when it comes to handling difficulties.  Perhaps that is the key for all of us. We can not make others live up to our expectations.  That would be cruel and unusual punishment.  But what we can do is to know what our boundaries are and communicate them to those we know and love.

        The rites of passage are personal and individual.  One size does not fit us all. We all walk with different shoes.  Perhaps that is the blessing in disguise.  Celebrate the challenges and the triumphs.  Celebrate the birthdays and the anniversaries.  They are what make us human.

"Wiith a Conscience" - "Say that again?"

               I was fitted with my frst pair of glasses when I was nine years old.  At the time, I thought they were kind of cool.  Individualistic, actually. I grew to accept the idea that I would be weariing glasses for the rest of my life.  I loved picking out new frames and I especially love doing that now. In 2024,  I was told I had a hearing loss that would now require me to wear hearing aids.  Trust me, having to get hearing aids was not even close to choosing a pair of fashionable frames for your eyes.  

            It starts with a hearing test which is surreal in itself.  You sit in a booth and they fire a series of hearing tests and you have your hand on a button to indicate whether you hear the sound or not.  It felt like I was a contestant on a game show.

            But here's the thing that I didn't realize. If you're hearing impaired and you haven't fixed the issue, people get angry because you can't hear them.  This continues to stun me because no one has a choice about corrective glasses or hearing loss.  You need to hear them and YOU want to hear them.  It's heart-breaking when you have the best of hearing intentions and have to ask someone you care about to repeat themselves.Trying to correct your hearing loss becomes quite the journey. Here's the issue...People want you to hear them perfectly without incident.

        Hearing aids are expensive.  Well...The ones that actually work beautifully are.  There are so many companies that claim hearing success inexpensively.  It's a sham.  You get what you pay for in terms of hearing clarity.  If you are 65 and have joined MediCare...They do NOT cover the cost of the better hearing aids.  Why??? Why???? I would think this would be one of the single most important health priorties today.  I don't understand.  

        I perform in local theater, have for decades.  Hearing loss has created quite the saddness until now.  Finally, I have hearinig aids that will bring me back to my joy. The cost was gifted but it has been a rights of passage for me.  I am back to normal but not wthout a huge cost.

        Hearing loss should not be taken lightly or become a source of frustration or something that occurs "on purpose."  If that was the case, I would be asking everyone to repeat themselves.  Heariing correctly prevents so many issues.  Dementia being the most serious.  So do not negate the powers of aging.  We all learn when we are ready OR when we have to learn...As time goes by, sometimes to live fully, we are not given a choice.