Brief Hiatus and new beginnings

So you may or may not have noticed that I have been absent for about a week. While I was slightly unavailable because I was out of town for part of my brief hiatus, I also felt like I needed sometime to refresh. After A's computer had a melt down, and she was unable to post for a few days, I used it as an excuse to regroup myself. But here is the real reason I have been absent...

Last Friday, something happened to me that left me with a complete loss for words. (And that is truly what happened without trying to be overly dramatic.) LA is a place where the thought of meeting your idol while you're doing mundane tasks is not absurd. In fact, more often than not, if you are mildly interactive with the outside world, you will run into famous people on a somewhat regular basis. Unfortunately, more often than not, your star sightings include people and faces you may recognize, but ultimately they aren't anyone you really care about. They are still fun though. And of course, the unwritten LA rule is that you stay cool. You do not give direct or obvious eye contact, you do not talk to them, you do not take photos of them, and then you respectfully try desperately to nonchalantly whisper their name to your friend sitting next you, and then you play it cool. And you sure as hell don't say 'I'm a big fan, I love your work.' You would never want to be a considered a crazy fan, or lumped in with the TMZ paparazzi. After being in this town for a handful of years, I have seen my fair share of stars. But it wasn't until this past Friday that I actually allowed myself to react.

There I was, waiting for A to meet me at a Starbucks, when in walked my all time favorite musician. Musical genius was standing in front of me, waiting to order a coffee. I had already broken most of the rules. I stared. I smiled. I was probably gasping his name audibly. My hands were shaking. Then A walked in the door and was able to force me to get a hold of myself. As soon as I said the name she knew what was at stake. (She had heard me talk about his music plenty of times) I wanted to say something to him, but what? And how? I was frumpy and disheveled. Why would he want to talk to me anyway? I mean he just wants to get a cup of coffee and leave.

Then in the true spirit of this blog, and with the encouragement of A, I found myself getting up from my seat and walking over to him. With my hands shaking and no real thought in my head, I introduced myself. (I'll save the details of the encounter for my next post) After I had gone home that night, and even into the next day, I was completely high on my own courage. I was so proud of myself that I was able to break out of a shell and do something so completely uncharacteristic of myself that I couldn't sleep. I kept playing it over and over in my head and I kept thinking I could have said something better, or done something differently, because I had let opportunities like this slip away before. I once stood in an elevator with one of career idols; I mean they were the reason I am who I am today. But I didn't say a word because of a bunch of lame excuses, but mainly I lacked the confidence to just be open with someone like himself.

This blog, I hope, encourages people to be more open with each other and themselves, and while doing that we'll all be able to take in the world a little more wholly. I couldn't have gotten out of that chair if it weren't for A. She was there to push me to take the leap. I realize that saying hello to a celebrity is not an earth-shattering accomplishment. But if we all were a little less apt to stare at the floor and keep to ourselves all the time, maybe it wouldn't be such an intimidating act to tell someone what they mean to you or give someone a compliment. If your gut is telling you to do something, go out and do it! Don't wait around for someone else to tell you to do it! Just do it! But if they happened to be there at the time, and give you a little nudge, that's OK too.

Thanks, A.

-M