Monday, March 18, 2013

Filling Space


Filling space. This is what the spirit does. When you enter a room, your spirit fills the space in that room, even though you may be standing in one corner. When you are at the theater your spirit fills the auditorium, even though you occupy only one seat. While you are sitting in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee, your spirit fills the space in your house, from the attic to the basement.

Gregory has always wanted to live in an English Country House mansion of at least one hundred rooms. Besides someplace to go, he has wondered about how it would feel to have his spirit fill that much space, plus the service areas, the gardens, the kitchens, the stables, the wine cellar, etc.

Not long ago, I experienced the filling of space in a grand way. I have been involved with the Lyric Opera of Chicago for ten years now as supernumerary or “acting extra.” I have had the opportunity to be on stage, in costume, in make-up, in front of three thousand six hundred people during approximately eight performances each of thirteen operas. I metaphorically talk about my “spirit flying” when I am on stage at the opera. Then one day it really happened.

One afternoon, during my second year of supering at the Lyric, I was in the audience to attend a dress rehearsal. As I was sitting in the house waiting for the lights to go down, I realized that my spirit was filling the entire opera house. First I filled the auditorium, then the stage, then back stage, then the scenery handling area, stage door left and stage door right, on to the stage lobby and rehearsal office, up the elevators to the rehearsal rooms and canteen, the dressing rooms, the wig and make-up department, chorus dressing rooms, props, practice rooms, the costume department, to the sixth floor cat walk, and finally another eight floors to the mesh floor that suspends the motors that operate those flies which are not operated by the hand pulled ropes located twelve floors below. I was able to fill the basement levels with its trap doors and orchestra pit and lounge. Believe me it was quite an experience.

Now I am living in our new condo unit. Unit 415 to be exact. A “soft-loft” above the commercial on one, fitness center on two, roof top park on three, and then Unit 415. I am very at home in our entry hall, TV/guest room, master bedroom with bath and huge closet, laundry closet, second bathroom, and large living area separated from an open kitchen by the granite topped island. Our parking space is on the tenth floor, bicycles  locked up in the bicycle room on the sixth floor, and storage locker located on the third floor.

The trouble is: Filling space. This is what the spirit does. When you enter a room, your spirit fills the space in that room, even though you may be standing in one corner. When you are at the theater your spirit fills the auditorium, even though you occupy only one seat. While you are sitting in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee, your spirit fills the space in your house, from the attic to the basement.

My spirit keeps trying to fill the condo building. It tries to fill two hundred and fifty six units, fifteen hundred parking spaces on twelve levels with six elevator shafts, one more garage elevator shaft devoted to condo owners only, a door man’s station, a lobby, a mail area, a package and cart room, three elevator shafts for the condo units, service and mechanical spaces, a six berth dock for the building, and  over twenty commercial units on the first floor. Whew. I don’t think it is a good idea to let my spirit fill the building since most of it really doesn’t apply to me!

So I am trying to learn, and succeeding I think, when to let my spirit fly free and when to reign it in. No easy task since the natural inclination of the spirit is to fill all the space allowed it! On a final note, perhaps death is the ultimate spirit trip, the filling of ALL space. I’ll let you know if I find out, but hopefully not for quite a few more years.

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