Sunday, June 21, 2009

Question of the Day #228

My friend S has pursued acting for a long time. She attends acting classes and workshops. She's always rehearsing some scene or another. But last night, she was in a play.

And she shined.

When she flipped out and threw a steak at her husband, I thought, "Damn. I wouldn't mess with her!" I cringed when she was hurt by a put down. I teared up when she cried out of frustration and held a gun to his head.

She was really good. And I was surprised. Not surprised like I thought she couldn't do it. Just surprised like, "Wow, I didn't know you could do that..."

Like years ago, when I went to see my boyfriend at the time play guitar. I wasn't expecting much, after all, everybody in LA wants to be a rock star or an actor or something. And that certainly doesn't mean they're any good at it. But his fingers worked that guitar so fast I couldn't follow them. He looked amazing up there on that stage, confident and cool, like he was born to play.

I stood there, shocked and thought, "Wow. I didn't know he could do that."

And that's one of the coolest feelings in the world. When someone takes you by surprise. Shows you a special piece of them that you didn't even know was there. And from then on, your perception of them is just a little different, forever.

When have you been surprised like that?

xoxo,
Suzanne

9 comments:

  1. Uh, hearing you sing for the first time. A moment I will never forget.

    Also, the creative talent of some of my colleagues. The art that they do in their downtime is incredible stuff! Photography, 3D modelling, painting, portraits -- blows me away.

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  2. When seeing my husband at work as a sheriff's deputy. He's "just Rick" at home, but at work he really knew his stuff.

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  3. Seeing V's paintings. Reading S's writings. Hearing H's lovely voice. Watching T go off to court. Watching N be a great father. Watching C coaching young men. Seeing all the k's as real adults, blows me away :)

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  4. When I realized my husband really could and would (and eventually did) put that '57 Chevy back together after taking it completely apart.

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  5. I know this is trite and sentimental, but my kids always surprise me. I forget they are getting older, and they amaze me with what they have learned! My oldest just got his state testing results from fourth grade and he's a genius! (Seriously) I know he's smart but this just blows me away!

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  6. My children amaze me. My oldest has his black belt in Karate and the youngest is just super smart and can play two instruments. He does complex math problems in his head and doesn't understand when the teacher tells him to show his work. He just says "I did".

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  7. My kids have been in after school music programs and all I hear at home is short practice sessions - at the end of the year the concerts really amazed me.

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  8. I felt that way when the kids and I met my husband at work and all his employees were calling him "sir" and offering to get him coffee. I mean, we knew in abstract that he had these employees working for him, but to see him command that respect from them was kinda cool. To us, he's just a guy. To them, he's the boss. It certainly made the kids look at him differently!

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  9. You sing?

    My wife surprises me every day - with the depth of her love and caring, her warm heart, her beautiful smile, her gracious spirit.

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