The Best in Us

Few experiences in life genuinely move me. I use the term “move” in the deep emotional or spiritual sense where one is overcome by emotion. Most of life is day to day with ups and downs, highs and lows, but few of those highs or lows hit with a wave of emotion. The circus does this to me consistently.

I recall this happening at several different trips to the circus. These are different shows and involve different circus companies. That’s interesting to because that it indicates something deeper than the individual performance. After a particular experience at one of several shows where I felt overcome by this wave of emotion, I have come to a realization. I’m not sure I’ve hit the deepest level of reflection on this yet.

I have been to numerous circus performances. I can recall a trip to the circus as a kid. I assume it was Ringling Bros. but I could be wrong. I’ve also seen the Moscow Circus, Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Italia’s various performances, and Venardos Circus. I have experienced nothing short of absolute wonder and amazement at each and every one of them.

One show in particular hit me the hardest. I reflected on this feeling of intense emotion while I was at the show. Just under a year ago, Cirque du Soleil was performing Ovo in Louisville, Kentucky where I resided at the time. It was inside the KFC Yum! Center which is a sports and concert arena. Normally, I’m cheap and buy whatever costs the least. However, I decided to splurge and treat myself on this one, sitting in the second row.

One of the early acts was done by this group of performers on tall poles. They climbed effortlessly. The jumped up and down the pole with such ease and grace that most strippers would envy this performance. At one point some of them held on to the pole with one hand and made it appear as if they were walking down a spiral staircase. At another point they climbed to the top and dropped to the floor, catching themselves inches before crashing but another performer midway up the pole would jump off and catch him/herself back onto the pole. It was at this moment I started to think about what it takes to do this. I wasn’t just thinking about the physical aspect, but also the mental aspect.

A later act was a silks act by a duo. It was a man and woman performing together. In Ovo, a show about an egg, the performers are also characters in the storyline. The two silks performers were moths. There was something absolutely captivating about this performance. I watched in awe as if they were born to fly. Tears started running down my face. It was from this wave of emotion that overcame me. I wasn’t sobbing. I was happy and truly awestruck by what was happening in front of me.

That’s when I realized that circus is amazing because it represents the best in us (us meaning humanity). There’s layers to the circus. Obviously the outer layer we first see is the entertainment. It’s an entertaining show and they sell that entertainment to make money. Look a little deeper and there’s more. It’s a group of people who are talented, but they take that talent and constantly refine it. Each act has a performer who is pushing his/her limits. Watch closely, look at their faces, and you can see when they are having fun and you can see when they are at grappling with their own limitations. At this threshold you can see someone who is balancing the desire to execute and push themselves farther with the fear of letting the audience down.

In all of this, you see people who seem superhuman. There are no superpowers like the comic books. They aren’t superhuman. They are the most human. We all have an incredible amount of potential. Most of us will never push ourselves to our limits in any dimension of our lives. Part of what makes the circus so captivating is that these people push themselves to their limitations. Not everyone has the talent, flexibility, or athletic prowess to do the stunts they do. Yet, most everyone will never push themselves to do anything to this level of constant training and mastering a skill.

It’s more than just mastering a skill and pushing the human body to its limits. There is a mental and emotional fortitude that is required. There is a deep and true love that is necessary to do this. The Chinese poles and the silks acts mentioned above are prime examples of this. These performers have to have a true and unwavering trust of their own abilities and the abilities of each other. In performing these acts, they literally risk their lives together. I think some of the awe that strikes me is the circus performer’s ability not to flinch in the face of death. In some of these acts, the performers are literally at the threshold not just of their abilities but also of death. It takes an unbelievable amount of courage and trust to count on the other people performing these stunts and setting up the stage to pull of a death defying act without wavering in the face death.

I find this inspiring. It makes me want to be more courageous and more trusting. I also want to push myself to great bounds. I may never do a silks act, ride a unicycle, or jump rope on a high wire, but I can push myself in own life. I could push myself to run a little faster in training for an upcoming marathon. I could be more courageous and get involved in my community. I could be more consistent in my writing. Whatever it is that each of us pursues, we have an incredible amount of untapped potential. Who knows what we could accomplish and how beautiful it could be if we dared to try.