I love theater! I am no actress by any means, but I love watching live performances. There is something magical about it that draws me in. There are several plays and musicals that I adore, but if I were forced to choose a favorite, I would choose "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder. Set in the early 1900s, the play is a profound insight into the meaning of life and the natural disposition of humanity. I don't think that any explanation I give to this play could even begin to serve justice to the depths of its meaning. I spend a lot of my time with my mind being preoccupied with the world of literature; my mind entering realms upon realms of characters and different works. To any individual, I recommend this: Read or watch Wilder's "Our Town." It may not affect you as deeply as it affected me but listen to the dialogue closely. You will find that the words are indeed true.
Lesson #1:
Love appears when love is ready to. I may have already met my future husband, but he also could be someone I don't meet for many years. I have no way of knowing what the future holds. But the play taught me that when love is ready, love will break through and prevail over all of my other thoughts. I could be young, I could be old, but love is the force that guides us through life and pulls us together and drags us apart.
Lesson #2:
I cannot recall the exact quotation, but the father of the main character, Emily, tells his soon-to-be son-in-law that it is unwise to seek counsel from others when making a personal decision. I wrestle with this idea, but deep down I know it is true. Yes, I think it is necessary to take the opinions of those close to your heart into consideration when making an important decision. But, I also have realized since reading and watching the play that I need to put more attention into myself when making difficult decisions than relying on other people. I have tried to give myself more say in important choices I've made such as deciding where to attend college, where to work, my choice of major, etc. It is important to listen to the advice of those around you, but take the time to really think about what you want, not what other people want you to want.
Lesson #3:
Life is unpredictable. This is something we all know, but it never really hit me until I experienced "Our Town." In the play, Emily dies young, during the birth of her second child. It really hit me that we never know what the future holds. We may deserve one thing but get another. We never know when something good is coming and we never know if something bad is coming. I have also realized that it is essential that we take the bad things and turn them into something positive; not necessarily good, but something positive meaning we see the light in what happened. We are able to see a life lesson in this bad experience.
Lesson #4:
We live without looking. We live our lives and create memories that last until we die, but we don't really spend the time to look at the world around us. How often do we find ourselves glued to our phones instead of talking to our friends who are right next to us? How often do we look towards the big things but miss the small things? Perhaps we are too excited for a wedding that we don't take a step back and notice all of the people who work behind the scenes, whether it be professionals or our own families. We don't stop to take in the minute details of preparation, and instead, judge our experience based on the final product. Instead of looking down, we need to look up and notice the world around us.
Lesson #5:
Of all the things that this play taught me, I was hit the hardest by the final two scenes of the third act. I cannot help but tear up whenever I watch or read the end. After realizing the truth behind Lesson #4, Emily returns to her grave on the hillside. The final lesson that I want to discuss is this: Does anybody truly realize life while they live it? The Stage Manager says "no... the saints and the poets, maybe they do some." We don't realize life while we live it. We spend so much time sitting around and doing nothing, waiting for tomorrow and expecting tomorrow to come. We aren't guaranteed tomorrow, nor should we expect it to be what we want. How many people actually live life as they live it? I don't, but "Our Town" has made me aware that I don't live. Since realizing this, I have tried to live my life to the fullest extent that I am able to.
I could go on and on about the play, but I can't do it justice. There are so many crucial life lessons to be learned from the play that putting it all into one article makes the play's meaning lose its value. In fact, I'd argue that putting five lessons into one article even takes away from the meaning. I'll leave you with this one last request: Watch the play. Read it. Please. You don't know know what you are missing until you find out for yourself what this play is about. The first time I read this play I was fifteen. Now, almost four years later, this play still echoes through my mind like the wind on the hill that Emily was buried in. The play has become a part of my everyday life. That is something I am thankful for, and once you see this play, you will be too.
