Friday, August 22, 2008

Find Your Grail!

Me and Wyatt are up early because he had a bad dream that he couldn't shake. He slipped into bed between Alan and I for comfort and, in a quivering voice, asked, "Can you stay awake with me?" We decided to come downstairs and watch Avatar and blog about it, but when we opened his blog Jordan Sparks was singing about Tattoos at the top of her lungs! It was a deer-in-the-headlights moment. I completely froze up, mostly out of sheer soundwave shock, and couldn't figure out how to pump down the volume. Sorry Perry and Martha (and GOOD MORNING)! I bet that song will be tattooed on your brain for a bit. 

As we watched Avatar, he blogged about what was on his mind. And now I am going to blog about waht is on my mind. 

The Olympics are coming to a close and I'm reflecting on one of my favorite Broadway shows--Spamalot, that playful rip-off of Monty Python's Holy Grail. Somewhere in all the silliness was a profound point:

Find your grail!

Dara Torres is back home from China after winning a silver medal, (or should I say losing herself a gold medal by a fingernail. Yesterday, on one of the. morning shows, she was asked why, after dropping her daughter off at pre-school, she still goes to the pool and works out. As if she should stop swimming. As if she should be done now--or at least take a break.

DUH! of course she's back in the pool working out. That's her grail. There are no breaks from your grail!

Seriously, are you ever done with your grail? You spend half of your life trying to find it and the other half trying to hold on to it. You just got chills, didn't you?  You know exactly what I'm talking about, don't you?

Your grail is your magic! The thing that gets you through your teenage angst and your new-mom melancholy and your mid-life boredom. It's the thing you do and think about and try not to do and think about in between the dishes and the laundry and bringing home the bacon. Oh, and the years of homework and practices and games with your kids. Oh, and the bazillion hours racked up doing your duty to God and your country. It's that thing you're willing to lose sleep over, and your job over and your baby weight over. It's that thing that gets you through your bad hair days. That super sweet spice that makes all the hard stuff and the ho-hum stuff easier to swallow.

That's your grail!

Find it!

Then hold on to it for dear life!
(Swim, Dara, SWIM!)


Shhhhhh . . . Wyatt finally went back to sleep.

2 comments:

Martha said...

Lucky we leave our side window closed so we don't hear the snoring or the early morning dance sessions going on at your house.

Yeah, I think tennis and basketball are my grails. Right after we got married I started running. Yuk, I hated running, too boring. I need a ball involved and an opponent. Now I got my basketball group going and starting the tennis on.

Perry quit his grail for a short time too. He sold all his music equipment because we didn't have space. Now he's slowly getting it all back.

Debbie said...

Yes, lucky! :) Poor Adam.

And lucky we (and the whole community) gets to benefit from your grail. And Perry's too. Way to share your grails.

We should talk like this more often. ha ha