All The World Really Is A Stage

A rather wise woman, who I have paid thousands of dollars to over the years (I'm not kidding), provided me with a really useful technique several years ago. The purpose and best use of this technique is when you are sucked into the emotional vortex of a situation that needs a solution - and all you can do is ruminate on it - spinning in perpetual circles - you pull this little trick out of your back pocket to acquire clarity. I wish I could remember to employ this quicker than I usually do, I would save myself A LOT of grief.

Here it is. Harken to Shakespeare and remember this:

Jaques:
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.
As You Like It Act 2, scene 7, 139–143

His acts being seven ages is for another day - today I'm focusing on the first two lines; All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players.

Now, for the cool part. Pull yourself up above your own personal stage so you are looking down; and take the situation and individuals you are trying to deal with; and watch them without emotion. Really, it's enlightening - you can do it. When you begin to look at them through this view point, without your emotions involved - and -if you look with an open eye, you can often stop the spinning and get a grip on a possible solution. Maybe two. It's really amazing.

Either I'm somewhat enlightened, or just tired of all the spinning, but I'm getting better at recognizing the need for this tool - and pretty often lately. I try to use it with my boys so that I don't get emotionally involved in their business - they are 23 and 25 after all. I had to do it in reflecting on how I dealt with a conversation amongst a few friends last week - but then I also had to re-tell the situation and how I resolved it to a friend. I wasn't sure I was viewing the scene properly (she said I was - good friends are like that).

I'm intrigued because I think someone in the Obama Administration knows how to utilize this skill set as well. They are viewing a very large stage with SO MANY actors - puts my little stage to shame. But, I think it's with that distanced eye that they are showing an adeptness in seeing the larger picture and extracting the essence of each scene; then adding it to the next one. Still, I worry. I just hope they don't get a cast of thousands up there and the stage implodes on itself.

As for my stage, it has cast multiple plays since I first learned of this concept - I fought it initially because I still thought the world would stop spinning if I didn't control it. Gradually, I discovered that not only will it continue to spin, but I don't have to add my own set of whirling issues - I can take a view from above, create solutions and enjoy watching all my actors.