Last week Bill and I went to see the New Shanghai Circus here in Anchorage. We were awed by their acrobatic feats and obviously well tuned performance. I’ve been thinking about the show and some spiritual truths I think they demonstrated very well.
Practice. I don’t know about you, but I certainly am not able to keep 15+ hula hoops circling my body any more than I can balance on one hand and keep plates spinning with my other appendages. These performers, even with talent and family tradition, didn’t get to be world traveling experts in any short span of time. I think we forget that when it comes to our spiritual practice or any change worth making. It doesn’t happen overnight. We were seeing the result of years and years of practice, along with generations of passed down information on the technical side of the each act. Mastery takes years, and I would bet those performers are still working on increasing their skills every day.
Getting back up. Some of the stunts we saw were pretty amazing, and mistakes were made. Even the pros miss now and then. What I really appreciated about the performance was that when they made a mistake, they went back and did it again. The audience LOVED it. One of the stunts was the men jumping or diving through a vertical hoop. It got knocked over and they just put it back up and kept going. They then raised it and went again, and again. They had that hoop up as high as some of their shoulders and they were still launching themselves through it. It’s good to remember that sometimes we get knocked down, and what matters most is getting back up. We may even be cheered on.
Community. The amount of trust the performers had in one another was apparent as they climbed atop each other like a jungle gym, or were flung into the air and caught. These folks undoubtedly have spent countless hours practicing together, dropping one another, and sharing in the exhilaration of getting it ‘right’ the first time. Then practicing again and again, helping, learning, sharing. While I haven’t been in a circus, I have worked on many a theatre show, and I know the feeling of community that arises from a group of people who come together to create something. Being a community or team requires trust, a shared goal, vulnerability, and a willingness to put the whole before the personal ego. After all, someone has to be willing to be the first person to try the jump, and someone has to be the person who is standing behind to catch them.
In conclusion, invite you to consider this wisdom from the circus and how practice, getting back up, and embracing community fit in your life. After all, we are all players in the circus of life!
Peace,
Rev. Rachel
PS Photo is from the New Shanghai Circus website to illustrate their wonderful feats.