Wk 2 Reading - Just a bush in Oz

Zander again pulls me in with his goodness and charity. In chapter 4, “Being a Contribution,” he was talking about the comparisons he felt in his own family and the games that he stressfully played for so many years. This made me think about a girlfriend I had in high school. She was one year younger than me, and that was really the only thing I had on her. We both fell in love with theatre as teenagers and attended a BYU Youth Theatre Camp for a month together. That would be the first of many competitive auditions we would have. We were being considered for the part of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. There were three of us in the last callback; neither my friend, nor I got the part. I could sing higher than the girl that got the lead and when they didn’t want to continue transposing the score for “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” she sang the first verse solo and then I sang the lead part as a bush. That was my debut, a bush from Oz.
But I digress. My friend and I continued to compete for leading parts for the rest of our high school career. We were in three summer theatres together as well. I was chosen over her many times. I went on to BYU for college, and was never out of a play that freshman year. I had a ball. She was joining the BYU theatre department the following year and the thoughts of competing with her again for parts did not appeal to me. So, as a last minute decision, I packed up and headed for a state college in Southern Utah, Dixie. There I was given several lead parts, whereas at enormous BYU, I was pretty much a peon.
I married, and continued theatre everywhere I could. By the time my friend and I ran into each other again, I had moved back near our hometown, and she had moved back from New York to the same area. We ended up at yet another audition together at Sundance Summer Theatre! This time, she got the part, and she continued to do so. What I finally learned was that I was happy for her. I was blown away by her talent and watched her in many leading roles. We went on to work together in many capacities, and she acknowledged my talent as well. I was happy to contribute wherever I could, and was happy for her success when she was able to do great things. That is such a freeing feeling, being happy for others’ triumphs without resentment or envy. It is only in giving that we receive.

Zander, B., & Zander, R. S. (2000). The art of possibility:
Transforming professional and personal life. New York: Penguin
Books.