The Luckiest Girl in the World

"Do you know how lucky I am just to be sitting in this room on the wrong day? There are millions of actors around the world, in this country, who would love the opportunity to just sit in this couch on the wrong day and not see Ryan Murphy. Just to have the script of Glee in my hands. I was able to have a nice drive with my wife today, she's lovely, a good companion and now I get the opportunity to have a nice drive with her again tomorrow. The way I figure it, I'm the luckiest man in the world."  

--Stephen Tobolowsky from The Tobolowsky Files, episode 16 "Dating Tips for Actors" 

I think it's safe to say that I am hooked on The Tobolowsky Files at this point. I listen to at least one episode a day and write down multiple quotes from each episode. I could write for the rest of the summer using only quotes from Stephen Tobolowsky if I didn't think you would get sick of hearing about him. 

Nonetheless I am writing about him today because I loved this quote so much. He is writing about a day in which he went for an audition for the part of Sandy Ryerson on Glee only to discover when he arrived that he had been sent to audition on the wrong day. 

Instead of getting angry and taking it out on the PA whose job it was to inform him of this fact he turned it around and looked honestly, objectively, at his situation and found that he had more to be grateful for than not in this seemingly negative situation. 

I often feel the same when someone around me is lamenting about how bad things are. We live in one of the best neighborhoods in one of the best cities in perhaps the best (in terms of standards of living and opportunities) country in the world. 

The past few years have been rough on us, and on many people we know financially, but we still have our house, we still have our health, we still have our landscape guy. Things really aren't that bad. 

On Sunday I got to have a "day off" from being a wife and a mother, a day to do whatever I pleased from dawn to dusk. It was a glorious day, but not without its share of frustrations as most days are. The frustrations of this particular day included going to a coffee shop, getting my tea and a truffle and sitting down on the comfy couch only to discover that their internet connection was not working.

Nonetheless I have decided to follow in Stephen Tobolowsky's footsteps and see the blessings in the midst of this frustration. 

Here's my version of this quote: 

Do you know how lucky I am just to be sitting in this coffee shop with the broken wifi? There are millions of people around the world, in this country, who would love the opportunity to just sit in this coffee shop, on this couch and not be able to connect to the internet.  Just to have a Macbook in my lap. I was able to have a nice day today. I went to yoga and no one else showed up so I got a personalized yoga session for $8. I got my toenails done in a lovely shade of red. I went shopping for a new comforter and some candles. And now I get to go home and get on my own wifi. I get to write a blog entry or two, I get to kiss my husband and my children goodnight and then I get to go to bed and get up tomorrow and do it all again. The way I figure it, I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

What's your version of luckiest girl/guy in the world? When have you been able to view a potential frustration as a signpost to gratitude instead? Try it this week and see how it goes!


[This week on Dear Soul Sisters....we answer a father's question about his kids' faith.]

The Moment Before Zero

“If zero is the place where the physical world begins then the moment before zero is the place of angels and demons, the starting point of the soul...Finding and returning to zero is a skill that cannot be underestimated...”

--Stephen Tobolowsky, "The Tobolowsky Files," episode 42

I am obsessed with a new (to me) podcast I discovered last week called "The Tobolowsky Files." In it legendary character actor (you probably won't recognize his name, but if you have ever gone to the movies, you WILL recognize his face) Stephen Tobolowsky tells stories from his life and career, but with a decidedly spiritual twist. 

It was episode 42 (entitled "The Moment Before Zero") that made me fall in love with this podcast, and just a little bit with Stephen Tobolowsky. 

On one level he is talking about acting. How the actor must always "return to zero" after every take so as not to display the naturally ensuing emotion of the scene before the action takes place. On another level he is talking about nothing short of the creation of the universe. 

Let me see if I can get this right: according to Stephen, if the Big Bang Theory is correct and there was a moment in time in which the Universe and everything in it (or at the very least the potential for everything in it) was created then there must have been a moment BEFORE that moment - the moment before zero. 

This is the moment, he says, "of magic and imagination" and "the place of angels and demons." 

As I sat there listening for the first time I had no idea who this man was or even what his name was, but all I could think was, "I am in the presence of genius." I was so enraptured with this idea that it was, very simply for me, a moment before zero. 

This is the place that I am searching for. The moment BEFORE the mind kicks in and starts THINKING about things, the moment of pure experience, true joy, unadulterated living. 

It is that moment in meditation when you forget yourself, "the gap" that sometimes opens up in your mind when you are in that pure state of just BEING. 

The moment before zero is a holy place, a sacred place, a place of angels and demons and sometimes, if we are very lucky, of mere mortals as well. 

I encourage you to try The Tobolowsky Files and see what you think. I also encourage you to find your own "moment before zero" as often as you can.

[Tomorrow on Dear Soul Sisters we attempt to answer the question, "Why are we here?" And talk even more about Stephen Tobolowsky and "the moment before zero." ]