This semester I had the chance to be in BYU’s production of the musical The Light in the Piazza.
It was an awesome show that I did not know very well beforehand. One interesting thing about it is that although it is a contemporary show, the music is written like a classical golden age piece. The music was actually some of the most challenging I have ever had to learn, but through lots of effort and support, I was able to get it down.
The night of our second performance, during one of the final duets of the show, a musical track came in a little earlier than expected. In an attempt to keep on with the music I accidentally started my verse of the song a full measure early, as I was singing, I realized that I was ahead of the track and was thinking of the options that I had to correct the mistake. I decided that the smartest thing to do was just to finish the verse, and hope that my partner on stage would wait out the next measure before she started hers.
So that’s what I did, I got through the rest of the verse and waited for my partner. She, having correctly heard that I started early, waited out the measure and started her verse, and we were right back on track. At that moment, I looked at my partner and felt a lot of joy. I knew that if I messed up, someone had my back. I was not at all embarrassed, or nervous about the rest of the number, in fact I actually felt more prepared for the rest of the song than I had up to that point. Rather than being worried that someone else may have to help me, I was so excited by the idea that somebody would if I ever needed it.
We often take on a lot on our own. While it is important to be able to take care of yourself, and achieve things on your own, I think we sometimes imply that reliance on others is weakness. Instead, I think that reliance on others only frees you up to be the best version of yourself. Whenever possible, I’d highly recommend taking a moment to realize who you have in your life, who has your back, and who is there to help you through whatever you are going through. Even in the times that you don’t feel you need that support; it could free you more than you’d expect to know that it’s there.