Olympics, Sequined Dresses and the Ordinary People Club

Sunday, February 14, 2010

So, every now and then I look at people and say, "WOW." Right now, for instance. The Olympics are going on and I look at the athletes and say, "Oh my goodness, I've done nothing with my life. I haven't excelled in anything like that!" And I wonder how it would feel to stand on that podium and receive a gold medal while The Star-Spangled Banner is playing. Wouldn't that be incredible?

And then again last night, when I was at James's choir concert, the pianist was amazing. I mean AMAZING. Last year, he took second in the National competition. Smoke was rising off the keys as he played and he just wowed the socks off of everyone in that hall. And I thought of the ten years I spent in piano lessons and thought about my mediocre piano skills. Hmmmmm.

And THEN, Jenny Jordan Frogley stepped on the stage in this beautiful sequined gown with sparkly bracelets, looking every bit the glamour girl, and she started to sing. And WOW. Oh my goodness. That gal can really sing! I mean, I can sing but she can SING. And if you don't know the difference between lowercase and uppercase letters on this, all you have to do is ask Jenny Jordan Frogley to sing a duet with me. And then you'll see what I mean. Big difference between lower case and uppercase letters.

Also, in watching Craig Jessop direct--that man gets a round of applause every time he steps onto a stage (and deservedly so, I might add). But how would that be to get standing ovations all of the time? WOW.

But before my self-esteem could tumble down with these comparisons I've been faced with lately, I had an epiphany that saved me in the nick of time. And that epiphany is this: EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE NEED ORDINARY PEOPLE OR THEY WOULDN'T BE EXTRAORDINARY. Think about that. If we were ALL extraordinary like that, then we'd all be, in fact, ordinary. Pretty deep concept, yes? So, in short, extraordinary people need ordinary people. Extraordinary people need ME! That's a nice thought.

So maybe I'll start an "Ordinary People Club" so ordinary people can bond and pat ourselves on the back from time to time. Here are some of the bylaws I've been toying with:

1) Your face cannot be either unusually beautiful or unusually ugly. That is to say, when you walk into a room every head must NOT turn to gaze at your uncommon beauty, but then again, no one should run away screaming in panic because they think you're a monster.

2) You should be a "Jack of many trades but a master of none." (If you're just really good at something, that's okay--but you can't be quite good enough for capital letters.)

3) You need to make your fair share of mistakes, stick your foot in your mouth every so often, and/or have frequent embarrassing moments. As I do all of these things on a regular basis, I motion to nominate me as president of the Ordinary People Club.

4) You MUST have a sense of humor. That's a crucial one. As the people in the Ordinary Club are not perfect, we must learn to laugh at ourselves but NOT in a mean way. We need to treat ourselves with respect, too.

5) You must strive to better yourself each day but not try not to get discouraged when you fall. And then, if you do get discouraged, you must be able to consume an entire bowl of ice cream and not feel too guilty about it.

6) Here's the most important bylaw of all: you have to be sincerely happy for people who graduate from the Ordinary People Club and move over into the realms of Extraordinary. (And maybe mastering the sixth bylaw automatically makes you extraordinary?)

7) You MUST have a good imagination. That way, you can close your eyes and imagine yourself up on that podium getting that gold medal, or you can grab your hair brush and sing and sing and pretend you're wearing that sequined dress. Imagination compensates for a lot!

8) You can cook and bake well enough to win a blue ribbon at the county fair, but you can NOT have your own cooking show. That crosses the line.

Any ideas for more bylaws? Meeting adjourned. Have a great (and ordinary) day!