#20 – On possibilities
Is age just a feeling?
Hi friends,
Happy June! Earlier this week, I went to see “Age is a Feeling,” a one-woman play written and performed by Canadian artist Haley McGee. The play comes with this (irresistible) description: “Inspired by hospices, mystics and trips to the cemetery, Age is a Feeling wrestles with our endless chances to change course while we’re alive. A covert rallying cry against cynicism and regret. A call to seize our time.”
McGee sits on a high wooden chair surrounded by 12 flowery poles, each standing for a story from a woman’s life from the age she turns 25 until her death. Based on the cards the audience chooses, McGee weaves her narrative based on those particular stories. The entire show is a poignant, beautiful and sometimes funny contemplation on life.
“Age is a feeling,” McGee repeatedly declares, but as she goes on telling her character’s stories, it becomes clear that her feelings are also influenced by her age. Still, as much as she faces the limitations of her aging body, her understanding of life deepens and appreciation for its texture grows. She was no longer living the many lives she dreamed of for herself in her youth, but she was still living a beautiful life – the friendships, the wisdom and the tenderness it brought her.
And because this play is based on which story cards the audience chooses, according to The Globe and Mail, there are 180 possible iterations of it! If a 75-minute play could have these many versions, how many more possibilities for a human life! All of it is a little bit mind-boggling and a whole lot of amazing.
Many years ago, I was at the Seoul airport, wandering around and waiting for my connecting flight to Chicago. I was in one of these airport bookstores browsing through publications when I came across this quote by Marissa Mayer on the cover of a magazine: “There are always a lot of good choices, and then there’s the one you pick, commit to, and make great.” As someone who is often evaluating decisions to figure out the ‘best’ one, I find a lot of comfort in these words.
This world sometimes offers a lot of choices (which is wonderful!), but it can also feel daunting to know which one is the ‘best.’ But, perhaps, once in a while, it doesn’t matter which one we choose as long as we commit to it and make it a great one.
McGee’s play reminded me that we often have more choices than we realize, and, at the end of the day, the opportunity to redirect our life is always there for us, if only we choose to take it.
PS: Thank you for being here! I loved this playbill of “Age is a Feeling”:
Such a thought-provoking post. I read an article once that talked about the grief we may hold as we get older, for un-lived lives we once saw for ourselves as possible. I had never really though of it that way, but it's true- the older we get, the more choices we make, and therefore the more roads we don't take. But I love what you wrote about sticking to the one we've picked and choosing to make it a great one. If we get too caught up in all the un-lived lives, we'll miss out on the amazing one we're living :)