Thursday, January 17, 2013

London Calling

Dreams do come true Travellers, especially the dreams you have when you are wide awake.  Not just in movies or epic poems, but in average and everyday real life to real people - to the people who dare to believe in their dreams.  These people do more than dare to believe though, they stop dreaming and start doing whatever it takes to make that dream come true.

Both this post and my quest to become a successful author are dedicated to my friend Martha Kight, because she is truly the inspiration from which I draw most often.  We met eons ago, back when everything was still a great adventure, back when I was still doing theater, back when the ravages of age did not inform even our smallest actions.  Ah, good times.

Martha is a brilliant actress, this is not just the love of a friend talking because she is very well known in the local artistic community and there are plenty of written reviews to back that up.  We met during a production of Pippin, I worked the back stage area - which pretty much set the 'stage' for me working in professional kitchens.  There are very many similarities to putting on theatrical production and putting on a restaurant meal, in fact it's almost exactly the same.

Martha and I bonded almost instantly over Bruce Springsteen, Born in the U.S.A. was a relatively new album then and Bruce was touring the world supporting that album.  I had already publicly declared for Springsteen years earlier, but Martha was new to the party - and she came with bells on.  It was love at first sight for her, she knew Bruce was her man just like so many others of us did, so Martha was one of 'us' now.

Growing up, there was a popular local radio station - now gone - that sponsored a contest to win a trip to London on the fourth of July to see Springsteen at Wembley Stadium.  KZAP heavily promoted the contest of course and it was a hotly contested prize as you could imagine.  Martha set her sights on that prize; she set her alarm to wake her on the hour through the night so she could call at the appointed time and her name would go into the lottery as often as possible.

And if that was all she did, then this post would not have happened.  Any idiot can pick up a phone and make a call, but Martha did much more than that: Martha believed.

She believed that she was going to London, so much so that she got her passport well before the contest ended and started "saving her pennies" (exact quote) also well in advance so that she could enjoy her trip fully.  Let me just say here that anyone who devotes their life to local theater ONLY has pennies to save, it is a labor of love and YOU should go out and support local theater in their honor.

I don't have to tell you how this ends, you know that Martha Kight went to London.  Of course she did and I'm going to London too, metaphorically speaking that is.  We can all go to London, we can all watch the Boss at Wembley Stadium and we can all make our waking dreams come true.

It is the power of wanting; the power of trying and most of all, it is your power of believing.

I believe.

7 comments:

  1. How wonderful. I love stories that end up happy. I believe things will happen too. Buying the passport was your friend's strength.

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    1. Thank you for saying so Francene. I agree about the passport, I think that was the keystone for Martha's success.

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  2. I believe, too! Firm belief, patience, and working toward that goal are all necessary. Oh, and luck. :) Thanks for sharing your friend's happy story.

    Marian Allen
    Fantasies, mysteries, comedies, recipes

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  3. If you don't try, you'll never get anywhere! If other people can, so can you! Good to remember!

    Morgan Mandel
    http://www.chicklitfaves.com

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  4. Great post! I needed a little dreaming because lately the writing has just been too much work and not enough fun. I'm shooting for my own Fourth of July.
    Wendy
    W.S. Gager on Writing

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  5. I'm wishing bottle rockets and blooming lotus flowers for you :)

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