Trust!
Ever since the very first cave-artist pondered how to get his work more widely seen (fun fact: cave-lighting in those days was notoriously awful), artists and destitution have been performing an uneasy and unceasing tango à folie (or cha-cha à cuckoo, if you prefer). I reckon there’s rarely been an artist who didn’t boldly announce themselves to the world and then immediately get down to the tricky business of starving. Through an undeniable Darwinian urge for self-preservation, though, artists of all stripes have learned to dial in to a rather splendid internal hotline, called trust.
Speaking for myself (your charmingly delusional showbiz-relic amigo), I couldn’t help but notice after the umpteenth time I woke up in a cold sweat (usually at a temp job), convinced of the impending final blow to my piñata of a career, something would happen. Something would come up. The agent would call, an unexpected cheque would arrive, a big-time producer would see me enjoying a malted milkshake at a drugstore counter and exclaim, “Why, you’re absolutely GORGEOUS!” (oh wait, that wasn’t me, that was Lana Turner). Disaster was averted time and time again, somehow. Somehow, I made it through. Despite all my gloriously committed despairing - the gnashing of teeth, the clawing at my face (my moneymaker!)...I had to admit that the universe had my back, yo. Like everyone else in my shoes (and there’ve been a lot of them in my shoes, since I frugally lease them from the local Bowl ‘n’ Wash) - I began to trust.
So, in the middle of a global hullabaloo (SPOILER ALERT: WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF ONE NOW FOLKS), when we so keenly feel the desperation of not knowing what the future holds, who better to turn to for advice than an artiste?! Well, tickle my mule and call me an Uber! Finally, something of value the arts can provide! An experience of trust in the face of uncertainty. And if you can locate that somewhat elusive but exquisite place of trust and set up shop there, you will discover some welcome, ever-lovin’ peace in a world of seemingly endless chaos!
And how do you find that trust, you may well ask, dear reader? (even if you don’t ask, I’m going to blather on a bit more anyway STOP PRETENDING YOU’RE NOT DELIGHTED) Well, one way is through your actual experience of life thus far. In this increasingly tense and high-stress millennium, we tend to gravitate towards the worst case scenario (as in “Oh GAWD, what fresh hell is this???”). We immediately blip over what’s happening now, and leap into a grim, dystopian future where doom gleefully awaits. We can really camp out there in that wilderness of gloom for a surprisingly long time, considering most of us won’t even stray too far from our space-age toothbrushes.
Take a minute now and think of three times that you worried yourself into a lather and everything turned out just fine. I’m sure you could conjure up even more than three, right? The more you remind yourself of all the times everything turned out ok, the more your coconut will start to reprogram its wondrous circuitry. Right now, we have our brains set to “OH MY GOD THE DRAPES ARE ON FIRE!!”. We want to transition gently to, “Well, it’ll all work itself out somehow...it always does!” It’s vital to really commit to it. Commit to it like you’re breathlessly binging the latest Netflix true-crime docu-series (I’m on my third this week). One big upside to this gentle tactic is that you just might become more calm and level-headed; and, along with that calm might appear a much greater sense of knowing how to tackle whatever challenges appear in your path. (Lifehack: try not to follow the example of how the people in Netflix true-crime docu-series tackle their challenges)
You know, there’s a charming little bird called an Egyptian Plover, that will help a crocodile keep its teeth clean...the croc props open its industrial-size jaws, and the Plover hops casually into its absolutely terrifying mouth and dines out on all the swanky, inter-dental leftovers (talk about an old-school toothbrush...take that, Sonicare!). Now why does that wee Plover put itself in the crocodile’s absolutely terrifying mouth? Trust. The birdie trusts the croc not to snap its jaws shut while he’s beak-flossing, and the croc trusts the birdie not to defecate in his mouth. It’s nature in perfect balance! And if a Plover can maintain a cool attitude of trust from the inside of those prehistoric-chic chompers, I think we can all trust a little more in the far less pointy and bitey process of life.
That plucky Plover knows how to trust the moment. We, on the other hand, spend a Denny’s-sized portion of our energy trying to get the pluck away from the moment. We are self-distraction machines - masters of being anywhere except where we actually are. Always fixating on the moment that’s not this moment...either pondering how much better this moment could have been if only we’d done this or that in the past, or contemplating how much better the moment will be when we desperately grasp at something different in the future. Let’s keep it simple, you dreamboats! Try trusting the present moment, and all the sweet treasures that reside inside it! For the love of petunias, you came all this way to get to this present moment, so trust it, why don’t ya?! Enjoy! Relax! Stop living in the past or fantasizing about the future! Be where the real action is, hepcats! Cast your peepers on all the neat-o stuff and darling people in your life right this second, and fully consider how amazing it is that life plopped you off right here in the perfect spot! What service!
Trust this moment is FOR YOU, always. “Cause once you trust this moment, you can trust every moment that follows, one right after the other…’cause really, there’s only ONE moment, right? And it’s always now!
That’s a long-winded way of saying that you’re ok, right now! And now! And now!
It’s all going to be okay! Please, as a personal favour to me, hang in there! I don’t ask for much! (please don’t fact-check that) I love you! ❤❤❤