Scary stuff

Besides the fact that this winter just seems to go on, and on, and on....

Mary Schmich's June 1, 1997 essay in the Chicago Tribune was turned into this rap by filmmaker Baz Luhrmann in 1999: one of the most frequent quotes taken from it is Do one thing that scares you every day.

Although I have friends who actually keep lists of things that scare them and try to pull something off it at least once a week, I've never been quite that organized: if something shows up in my life that makes my heart both sink and skip a beat at the same time, well, then I figure it's time to make that decision. (Or not, depending.)



When we were striking Falling Away (as detailed here), someone had to climb the big ladder to take it down. To be kind, heights and I are not exactly the best of friends, and I had not done the original install.



But now it had to be taken down, so without much thought, I climbed up, gently removing the piece from each of the three hooks (one at the top of each peak), and lowering it down to the ground. Once down, I laid it out the same way I had when we installed it, rolled it back up, and popped it into my stylish carrying case.



It wasn't until after climbing back up the ladder to remove the hooks that it dawned on me that I hadn't been trembling in my shoes. I don't think I'll start looking for a window-washing gig anytime soon, but a week later, looking to pull down some icicles to incorporate into this installation, I once again climbed up to fetch some excellent ones without having my stomach doing somersaults.

Part of it must be the things we do for art, I guess, but I think there are other thoughts afoot as well