This week I went and reviewed a show for theatreview.org.nz called 'Every Brilliant Thing'. It deals with depression in a way that is funny and tender and got me thinking about all the brilliant things in life. The main protagonist starts a list of 'all the brilliant things' that make life worth living at the age of seven after his father tells him that his mother is in hospital after 'doing something stupid'.
In the review I mention that I find the naming of this list really worked for me in a way that a 'gratitude list' does not. A gratitude list may be imbued with some kind of morality, but a list dedicated to that which is brilliant is not.
A few Things that would make my list include dancing in the dark, reading in a hot bath, the way David Bowie sings 'I'd be a rock n roll bitch for you' in Moonage Daydream, watching birds hop, looking at the way the tendons and muscles move under the skin on the top of my feet or hands!
This got me thinking about what I find brilliant and then that led to thinking of what might be A Brilliant Thing for the week, what small adventure might I create for myself and possibly for others?
I have never gone to the nearby waterfall at Te Auaunga (a bit polluted but I still swim in it) early in the morning with a thermos of coffee. That would be a truly Brilliant Thing to do! I could take my yoga mat (since I'm incredibly out of practice) and feel all zen and onto it. I would be shaking up my usual patterns, having a small adventure, directing my neural pathways positively. I will drink my thermos coffee and feel the light spray coming off the water falling white and bridal to the deep.
This waterfall yoga and coffee adventure has now sparked all sorts of other things I could do that I normally feel are a little bit beyond me, or a little bit unusual. Ideas about what to make and where to go are flooding in. So the next time I am back I will tell you how the waterfall adventure goes!
What would your Brilliant Thing be if you had to invent a small adventure or dare for yourself? May brilliance be yours.
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