I remember once seeing a bunch of kids outside a Greatful Dead show (I believe it was after Jerry Garcia was dead but the rest of the band was still touring). There were about fifty people that didn’t have tickets, and they were all holding one hand above their head pointing up.
I asked the people I was with what they were doing with their hands up like that, and learned of the custom of “waiting for a miracle”, basically showing that you didn’t have a ticket in the hope that someone would have an extra and give you one.
A pretty amazing thing actually; I wonder how many of them got in.
I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. Not the sitting around waiting for someone to give you something, but the act of being in need of a stroke of major luck and putting your hand up in the hope that you’ll catch one as they fly overhead if you just wait long enough.
Because really, you don’t get lucky by not showing that you need to be lucky, by doing something proactive and getting in the universe’s face and saying “Yo, a little help here.”
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Walked around today with a friend of mine I haven’t seen in a long time. Summer’s come to Toronto at last, which is a big event because it hasn’t been warm since November. It’s really easy to forget what warm weather feels like. But today there was no need for a jacket, it was threatening to rain but never quite got there, the rickshaws are out an about with their giant ads for 24 HOUR HOT OIL MASSAGE on the back, every patio packed, several strangers remarked to me how great it was that it was sunny and nice, even gas prices dropped despite it being a weekend.
The world seems to be conspiring to make everyone’s life a little less stressful and fun a little easier to have.
I hereby get the message. I’m really grateful that nothing lasts forever, because that means that the less fun times of stalling, stress and worry won’t either.