Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Impossible Until It's Not


Cough, cough... it seems we are coming down with something here In the Writer's Closet. It's a good thing that I have plenty of photo shoots in store - I can still write and post, despite the illness.
Justin, Anya and I went to such an amazing performance last weekend that I simply wanted to let everyone who is local know - DO NOT MISS IT! The performance is by Hi-Liners, a unique youth theater located in Burien, WA. It's a truly amazing collective - both kids and educators are incredibly creative and talented, and what matters most, passionate about what they are doing.


 Hi-Liners have a few performances a year, divided by Downstage and Mainstage groups. In Downstage shows, everyone can perform - it is non-competitive, and right now they are getting ready to audition for their January show. Mainstage produces such gems as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a fantastic musical with humor, talent and energy which I rarely see even in professional theater - I mean, yes, there are some shows that have the same volcanic energy, but it is quite rare, and given that all the roles in this show are played by children (kids from 8 to 18, the oldest actor is 20), I'd say it is one of the very best performances I've ever seen, including professional theaters. I believe there will be two more weekends, so get yourself a ticket and watch this magical, hilarious and truly scrumptious show.



We took these photos before the performance started, in the historic (1924) high school courtyard. I am always taken with old buildings, they have such irreplaceable charm. I went to a very typical Soviet school, gray square building, nothing remarkable about it - we have 5 schools in the town where I grew up, and they all look exactly the same. I think the very first school was a little different, but not much. But then, it's a small and very young town, of the same age as me (aging noticeably better than me though). 


Photos above and below: 
The way I accessorized that evening...
...and the way the school is accessorized.


Amber bracelet, gift from friends 20 years ago.


The wooden earrings with amber (I wore them with the outfit from my previous post here.)




This old school reminded Justin of his high school, a beautiful brick building with a tower, built in 1934, which was demolished 75 years later because... it was too expensive to keep. And yes, we can always find just the right reasons to destroy something, or not even start building something. We can always find convenient inconveniences that prove that it's better to go an easy way. But the easy way is not better, it's just that - easy. Doesn't it make you want to scream at times the way people can think up side down, the way their priorities are up side down and inside out, and their decisions are based on those up side down priorities? The school that was literally a part of every family in Justin's little town, that hosted quite a few foreign students for whom it also held treasured memories, the school that still was in great shape, was demolished because it was inconvenient to keep?


I wrote a short essay in which I talk about people who go for their dreams despite their losses, doubts, uncertainties and let alone inconveniences (you can read the whole essay here), and I ask why. The answer to me is that some of us feel with every fiber of our being that this fire inside of us is the most precious thing we've got. Take the fire down, and we are nothing but an empty, lifeless shell. It saddens me to watch how people with that same precious fire decide to settle down, lead a quiet "sensible" life and let their fire die out. Fire is inconvenient to keep. It demands constant attention, constant work - the hardest kind of work, the inner kind. It makes one look for solutions rather than excuses, to dig out resources that are not obvious. That's when the ultimate creativity kicks in - the kind of creativity which helps us to build the amazing life that we want. It's that fire that makes us dream and desire, and go for the impossible... Just like a youth theater which takes on a task to create a show which will make the whole audience stand up with ovations. Or a group of caring people finding a creative solution to keep a beautiful historic building, rather than demolish it due to "inconveniences"... 
The impossible is only impossible until it is not. 


My accessories on a little wooden table hand painted by passionate Russian artisans (Khokhloma)

My outfit - Lane Bryant, different years
Purse - via TJ MAXX
Shoes - Josef Seibel
Amber bracelet - gift from friends in Russia


* * *

13 comments:

  1. Very pretty outfit , I really like the fun mix of patterns with your polka dot and stripes. It's so nice to see buildings with history and character.

    Alice
    www.happpinessatmidlife.com

    Would love to see you Thursday for TBT Fashion link up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Alice! I think the striped cardigan really completes it. Without stripes, a little too predictable.

      Delete
  2. Oh Natalia, lovely polka dots ♥️. And stripe cardigan too. WOW
    Have nice day, kisses Tina

    ReplyDelete
  3. oh yes - i want to scream sometimes! right in the faces of that short thinking people! but i´m nice. and then i get sad. all this people that fill their empty "fireplaces" with consumption of cheap goods and drugs..... and i feel like the caller in the desert when i praise creativity and sustainable lifestyle - renovating old buildings is always more sustainable then building new - but building new gives a lot of profit and renovating does´t.
    but then i read you - see you in your fabulous ensemble, on the way to a theater event - and there is sunshine again!
    tons of hugses!!!! xxxxxxx

    ReplyDelete
  4. Keep your fire burning, my friend! You captured the glow of amber perfectly. Thank you! xxox

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wonderful post! Yes, those little fires, they warm me and sometimes I have to forage for a long time to find fresh fuel, but it seems to keep going - to my amazement. Without it, I am just a woman living in a box. Speaking of which, it's terribly sad when old is demolished for new due to cost. So many new buildings here are shrouded in plastic and scaffolding after just a few years for "building envelope maintenance" - simply put, they are leaking, badly. So which is inconvenient?
    I love the passion of kids' theatre. What you wore to the performance is beautiful, but what you write and what you wear are so often just part of the same great package it's hard to distinguish between them. Heh.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I just hate it when they destroy history. It should be outlawed.

    bisous
    Suzanne

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a wonderful vision you are, dear Natalia.
    I know well how people destroy beautiful building for the sake o money.
    Beautifully written, dear friend
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

    ReplyDelete
  8. The mustard and polka dots with that gorgeous amber bracelet, are a stunning combination. And what a fabulous building. Yes, it's a shame that beautiful buildings aren't more protected, although I recognise that urban settings are in constant flux. We need new architecture and design, of course, and I like to think that the old and the new can happily co-exist. xxx

    ReplyDelete
  9. I hope that you're feeling better...I always catch a cold when the season is changing even when it is really hot as it is here at the moment...I have a feeling that the sun will melt me, it is really that strong.

    This outfit is so feminine and lovely...I have a special place in my heart for polka dots print.

    It seems you and Justin had a lovely time...and those buildings are so beautiful. Sometimes it is easy to forget that the past needs protecting...and that historical buildings need us to take care of them.

    Have a lovely day!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Always so sad when buildings that are the heart of a community are destroyed for whatever reason and then replaced with a supposedly newer and better building. I know what you mean about those fires , once extinguished it takes so long to reignite. Your theatre performance sounds such a joy, much like you in your wonderful spots and amber. Take care.

    ReplyDelete
  11. There is so much I want to say about all of this and so little juice left in my battery. You look so lovely, as always, but I must mention it. This outfit is so cheerful and pretty and suits you so well. I too love old buildings and I am not particularly attracted to modern ones but in a small west coast town we don't really have anything old. I too love theatre, amateur and professional, though here we only have amateur performances and I must go to Victoria or Vancouver for professional ones.
    Settling down and being responsible? I did that already and now I am being irresponsible, selfish and putting myself first. I am neither interested in being conventional nor in flaunting unconventionality. I just want to be me. :-)
    xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete