The Grand Ole Opry « cookiecrumbstoliveby

“All the world’s a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.”
Seán O’Casey

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

(stage lights , Grand Ole Opry / Julie Cook / 2015)

There are no lights,
no cameras,
no backup singers,
no band,
no wardrobe staff,
no makeup artists,
no paying audience,
no practicing,
no rehearsals,
no experience. . .
Yet we all must climb up on a variety of stages each and every day. . .

(Center stage, the Ryman Auditorium / Nashville, TN / Julie Cook / 2015

No role is rehearsed as it is always to be a live performance.
There are no cuts, no retakes, no adjustments, no alterations. . .
No sound crew who can adjust the volume or output
what happens, happens. . .good or bad.

(a crowded Grand Ole Opry / Julie Cook / 2015)

We take center stage as
parent,
spouse,
child,
sibling,
friend,
employee,
employer,
teammate,
leader,
follower. . .

Our role is defined but our performance remains questionable.
Will we pull it off?
Will we be convincing,
engaging,
commanding,
believable. . . ?

Stage presence, confidence, passion, enthusiasm, knowledge, authority. . .
each laced with humility and sincerity are imperative for success.
For our audience is more or less captive and more often times than not, hostile

We may not always feel our best, look our best or be our best, but those watching are not concerned with such- – –
They’ve come to expect, yay demand, the very best.

Yet the question remains. . .what is to be our greatest role, our greatest performance
And will we be ready when we take the stage. . .

(Carrie Underwood/ Grand Ole Opry / Nashville, TN / Julie Cook / 2015)