We Were Meant to Meet

In 1997, while doing a little dinner theater show in Boca Raton, FL, I had the privilege of meeting a woman in her late 70’s who was a dialect coach for the Yiddish required in the show.  She was a cheerful sort, very interested in people and particularly interested in teaching what was her area of expertise.  Who knew that this chance encounter would lead to a sort of Tuesdays With Morrie relationship that has lasted 15 years and provides each of us with exceptional joy and exchange of powerful value in our lives.

I just returned from another visit with Miss Fay, who at almost 90, is probably the most inspirational living person that I personally know.  She thinks and speaks about living, not dying, though she knows she’s close (in years probably, not health wise…) and the power of “Happiness Now”.  And she tells me, she was meant to meet me!

What I’ve come to find is that being gracious and grateful for the kindness, value and support the people we surround ourselves with doesn’t just make up our life, it IS our life!  For some, Miss Fay may be difficult to take.  She’s so damned cheerful, positive and in teaching mode, that a person’s natural inclination to stand anything that GOOD, makes most cringe, wanting to get away or find fault.  Why is that?

Well, at the beginning it was kind of like that for me too.  I kept looking for the fault, the thing that would make her human, the resentment she held, the prejudice, the hurt…but it never showed itself.  Early on I resisted her showing me the way to properly hold a mixing spoon (I know how to hold a mixing spoon, damnit!) or how to peel a hard boiled egg.

Now I can’t wait to stand in her kitchen as she slowly and deliberately offers advice on proper containers for different kinds of food or which spice to add first, the pepper or the bay leaf.  Now I soak up every bit of positivity I can because I know I am in the presence of a rare find, a gem, a guru, a true soul of a pure wise and giving human being.

I asked to put her on video to have her with me when she passes.  She answered with a firm no as she wishes to be remembered the way she was when we met at a youthful 78 and not her slow, more wrinkled and slightly breathless state.  (Ok, vanity being the most damning human quality I can find).  So here I will put the ones that I have permission to.

She also said I will always remember her because she will never leave me.  In physical form perhaps, but never in my heart.  And she is right.

We were meant to meet and I am blessed and honored to visit her when I can and soak up such love and joy.  I wish everyone could meet someone they are meant to, and share in the good vibrations that are available when you remain open to others.  You never know who is going to make a large impact on your life…you just never know.

I have a richer life because Miss Fay is in it.  As I write this, she approaches her 92 birthday.  I want to be her when I grow up.  A writer and a blogger herself, she longs to share her wisdom with more people and I urge you to please take a moment to see what I see.  It would be great for you to make COMMENTS as that will add to her happieness.    CLICK HERE to read what I call Fayisms.  And also comment on this blog to tell me about the people that you have in your life like Miss Fay.

My Cougar Weekend

I can’t believe more than a week has passed since I attended my BFF girlfriend, Donna Moore’s premiere of Cougar the Musical in New York.  I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

The process has been more than 6 years in the making.  Many readers have heard of this project via my emails and Facebook posts as I want and need this show to GO far.  Menopause the Musical is the “business model” Cougar is patterned after, though the content of the musical is VERY different.  Hhhuuum – menopause vs. hot vital women of a certain age – a no brainer!

It all started when I brought my gal pal to my friend Adam’s 30th birthday party.  The subject of my (possibly?) being a Cougar came up and though Donna had never heard the term, had been so intrigued by the concept, that within a week she had written a song…that which is now the title song of the show.  CLICK HERE to hear excerpts from a few other songs from the show.

6 some odd years later, after many OBSTACLES, producers, cast members, trials and tribulations with theaters, the union, and money issues, the show is going on!  This is a testament to Donna’s vision and mission of bringing the enlightened message about “love being ageless” to the masses.  The desire that this show duplicate it’s cast and tour the country, if not the world, is strong and shared by many people in my community.  Being with Donna every step of the way until I left the East Coast to expand my business, I felt a little disconnected at the end…the home stretch as it were, but Donna has assured me this is only the beginning!

So with this writing I am embarking on the next stage of the adventure with her and am so excited!  And isn’t that the same as an acting career, or indeed every experience that leads us to the fruition of a vision for ourselves in all aspects of life?  When I lead programs or coach actors in career matters, what I love to concentrate on the most is not the “how to do” but the “how to think and feel” about what there is to do.  (By the way, there is a LOT to do!) Really, the journey never ends and if you have ups and downs along the way, how you “hold the thought” of the experience you’re having is MORE IMPORTANT than the experience of it “turning out” the way you thought.

You know why?  It NEVER turns out the way you thought!  Its usually BETTER than you ever imagined…if you imagine it long enough.  The only way its worse is if you stop envisioning it and quit.   This is where regret, upset, depression and struggle come from.  Think and Grow Rich Acting is now my new centerpiece of Act Outside the Box.  I wish I could communicate this to more actors…that if you would only start with the THOUGHTS of how you want to FEEL when you get that agent, role, pile of money, recognition, golden statue…if you could create that feeling NOW about how you think you’ll feel when you have the vision realized, then you, like Donna Moore, will have the experience you desire ALL ALONG THE WAY!  Its a universal law.

You just can’t give up or give in to the negative thoughts.  Cougar the Musical is a shining example of a vision realized and I could blog about 600 more pages about all of the ups and downs and experiences (good and bad) that happened on this journey so far…but I won’t.

I just leave you with this:  If you want what you want, first figure out EXACTLY what that is.  Visualize it, Intend that it happen, Believe that it will, then be with the Experience of the journey.  That’s V.I.B.E.

I now also co-lead programs outside of the acting community for everyone who wants to realize their dreams with a company called Raised Vibration.  Our next program, Owning My Purpose, is scheduled for Nov. 1st through 4th in Phoenix, AZ.  I’d love to have you join me.

Cougar the Musical has an open ended run at St. Luke’s Theater on Restaurant Row in New York, Wednesday and Friday nights at 8pm and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2pm.  My GREATEST desire and one I VISUALIZE happening is that if you’re reading this in an archive in 2015, the show will STILL be going on in many formats, with multiple casts, and is one of the best and longest running shows in recent theatrical history!  –  Lisa Gold

My FAB Cougar girlfriends, Donna, Ayodele, Renee and Moi!

I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts on the subject of being a Cougar, being a Cougar lover AND about being patient in the process of bringing something from a vision to reality.

P.S. – Ahem, I want to thank all of the beautiful young “bucks” who slipped me their phone number that weekend.  It FELT awesome and will look you up when I’m back in NYC!