Worth It

So as most of y'all know, I have a job now. But as most of y'all didn't know, it's a lot of work. Okay so maybe that was a dumb statement but I mean it. I'm never at home anymore. I go to school from 7:45 to 3; I go to work from 4 to 11; I have three four hour rehearsals a week; I go to church; I attempt to have a social life. As you can probably assume, this does take a toll on my physical (and mental) health.

Well yesterday I was running on about three hours of sleep (with four hours the night before) and I was terribly ill. Ill enough to be allowed to sleep during both choir and theatre class. I was (once again) scheduled to work from 4 to 11. So I showed up at work and my manager told me that if I really wasn't feeling well, I could go home. I called my parents and ma mere arrived to fetch me around 5:45.

However, instead of going home to read Shakespeare and eat soup, I went to rehearsal, which I was going to have to miss because of work. I had to bring Ma with me because the rest of my family wasn't at home but he just chilled out and played with his DS in a comfy little nest I made him in the back.

Upon arriving I made sure that everyone knew that I was exhausted and sick and that if I wasn't functioning properly, I had a very valid excuse. They responded like most best friends do. Katie let me have her seat, Dallas let me have his shirt so I wouldn't have to wear my work uniform, and they did their best to make me laugh and make me feel better.

I. Flipping. *Adore*. Those. People.

You know how when you're in a cast, you're just automatically best friends with everyone? Well that is beyond true in our cast. Our inside joke list is becoming never-ending, and I'm pretty sure we spend more time laughing than we do actually rehearsing.

But isn't that how life is supposed to be?

Free and loud and bright and brilliant and intoxicating and invigorating and alive. Where people aren't afraid to say what they mean and do what they feel like doing, regardless of what others think or how against the rules it is. Where there is no fear of rejection or loneliness because you have a beautiful support system who has always got your back no matter what it might cost them.

Who will slap people who insult you so you don't have to do it.

Who will give you compliments on things you didn't know you do well.

Who make life worth it.

I'm pretty sure I need to write a song about these people. They've shown me a whole different side of love that I didn't even know existed. They've proven to me that not everyone is the same, and though man is inherently evil, he can overcome that and be the best group of friends you never knew you needed.

There are many different kinds of love. My favorite is that divine redeeming love that my Designer has for me. But I've discovered another kind of love that I'm not sure what I'd do without.

The love of a cast for each other.

I've been in several casts before but I can say with the utmost honesty that I have never been so attached to a cast as I am to this one. They are the most gorgeous, selfless, hilarious people I've ever met in my life and if I didn't have them, my life would be a lot less worth it.

Love is a funny thing. It's a welcome home hug and a paper mache flower and the words whispered soft and sweet, "I've got you." In the words of a song I just recently finished, love is a weather-stained evening and a cold fist full of sand.

But love can be a collection of inside jokes and The Cupid Shuffle too.

I went home last night dead tired, but with an extremely joyful heart. I didn't even have time to change into my pajamas before I fell asleep. So I curled up under some quilts my Abuela made me, in Dallas's sweatshirt, with the biggest smile that I've worn in a very long time. Sick and tired as a person may be, a night with a cast like mine really does make everything worth it.

My life is perfect because of these beautiful people.