This has happened to me over and over in my life. Somebody calls me out of the blue and offers me a job or asks me to do something and my first reaction is: NO WAY!!! Don't want to do it. Won't do it. You can't make me.
My first teaching job. I wasn't qualified to teach! I didn't want it. I told them so.
My job teaching pregnant middle school girls. Are you kidding me?
Those are just two examples.
Early in June I got the call from an acquaintance from the choir up here in Chautauqua. She left a message. She wanted me to call her back about something. I was with Dave at the time. The only thing I could figure out was that they were going to try to pawn off this music library job on me. I told Dave. . .There's NO WAY I'm taking that job! I don't go to Chautauqua to work!
Turns out they were offering me 1/3 of that job. I still have no idea why my name came up with the other two. But it was NO, NO, NO from the beginning.
Until we started to chat about the job and my NO, NO, NO went to MAYBE, MAYBE, MAYBE and then to OKAY, BUT ONLY FOR ONE YEAR AND I'M NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT.
I need to trust that when the universe comes at me out of the blue to suggest something that was not formerly on my radar screen, I need to pay attention, and yell out a lusty YES in spite of all the voices in my head to the contrary.
Because now that I'm 6 weeks in, not only do I enjoy this job enough to accept doing it next year, but this week alone demonstrates why YES is a good answer.
On Monday, Jared took his librarians, their intern, and one of the husbands out to dinner at a restaurant in Mayville called Le Fleur. Fancy schmancy. With prices to match. French all the way, obviously. He had been there before and assured us it would be 1. his treat, and 2. an unforgettable dining experience.
Well I have had some fabulous meals in fancy and not so fancy restaurants. But nothing approaching this one. From the kir cocktails (champagne and lilac. . . the most amazing color of soft purple) to the breads before dinner, to the 1st course pear tart with mixed greens, to the rack of lamb, to the sublime Shiraz that accompanied my dinner, to the key lime macaroons for dessert, and then the long stem red rose that each woman who dines there receives at the end, this was nearly 5 hours of pure dining bliss. Every morsel, every sip was memorable. And the conversation and laughter around the table was such a pleasant way to spend an evening. We all got to know each other outside the Chautauqua gates. Jared was showing his appreciation for our efforts thus far in the most extravagant way. I would not have been there for that evening if I had said no to the job!
My chance encounter with Peter and Paul last week would not have happened if I had not been on library business!
Today I turned pages for Jared's Massey concert. He played all Bach. Only my musician friends will appreciate that I turned pages for the magnificent Prelude and Fugue in Eb . . . .the St. Anne! An epic piece. I was so excited standing on that organ watching him play that piece that I almost forgot to keep track of the pages. Then he followed that with the behemoth Bach Passacaglia. OMG!!! I positively floated out of the amp after that experience. I would not have become Jared's page turner without the library job.
Tonight Nancy and I went to the choir room to stuff the folders for the weekend choir and the bluegrass band which performed Monday night while we were at the restaurant was back to accompany an extended dance piece called "Shindig" for tonight's dance concert. While we began getting the music ready, they began warming up and practicing in the same room. Live professional bluegrass music 10 feet away from us. They played for about 20 minutes while we danced around sorting music. I was in hog heaven. I adore bluegrass. I know that somewhere out there my daddy was appreciating that I was in that room with those guys. Without the library job, I would not have had that experience.
The richness of my experience up here this year is eons more-so with this job. I could have never dreamed that something I didn't want to do so badly would end up so well.
No kidding. . . . just say YES!
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