SWIMMING IN SWAN LAKE. Pt. 3

The long-awaited moment was upon us, the embroidered red-layered curtain lifted, and a slightly more subdued medieval scene, depicting a castle and forest landscape, replaced that which had most recently filled up our view.

As the ballet of all ballets commenced costumed men and women graced the stage with their respective presences, and fluttered to and fro, here and yon; with all the allegro and pirouette common to such an impressive undertaking.

But as impressed as I was with the extraordinary ability of the cast, and as much as I strove to interpret the sequence of events which played themselves out on the stage, I was lost to account for any rhyme or reason or unified plot.

And though both my wife and I were abject novices to the ballet, I think I intuitively lent her a bit more insight, than I might have otherwise done. I mean, she knew these people. At the very least, members of their tribe. For she had walked the well-worn pavement stones of Red Square, admired the cavernous innards of the Moscow Subway, and spent American dollars at a Russian roadside flea market. 

But as I looked longingly into her eyes, they seemed to be… as blank and without understanding as I imagined my own. And as long and arduous had been our (2 hour) plight to understand the lives and love of Odette and Prince Siegfried, it was only after a waft of sudden insight from the most unlikely source that won the day, and saved our figurative souls from the same drear outcome of the hero and heroine of the story which had so richly been unfolding before us.

The Internet!!!

Having retrieved ye old smart phone from her purse, and having googled the title of our favorite (and only) ballet to date,… theory put on reality and invisible put on substance.

We understood

The proverbial curtains of our eyes were lifted, as surely as the original had risen to reveal all that lay just behind it.

As a counselor I have often stressed the value of exposing one’s self to circumstances and conditions which have, heretofore, instilled fear or promulgated stagnation in one’s life. And as my clients have stretched themselves and stripped off the invisible bonds which stifled their spirits, and limited their potential, they have expanded their horizons and embraced new mindsets.

Last night I was the unwary victim of my own therapy, 

…and swam the tenuous waters of Swan Lake.

**Note - As you might guess, my tendency for introvertism has been a bit exaggerated here for effect.

By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "(Mc)Donald's Daily Diary" Vol. 49.Copyright pending.

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