A Circus Life

A Circus Life

A few weeks ago I went to the circus.  I had not been to one in years, however attended them every other year as a child.  My mother was obsessed with them, Ringling Brothers to be specific.  She loved Gunter Gebel-Williams with his wild blonde hair and tight leather outfits.  He was amazing really.  The tigers he had tamed could jump through flaming hoops, allow him to ride on their backs and even let him put his head in their mouths.  We actually had posters of him hung in our garage that would rotate with each new year when he would come to Madison Square Garden.  It was a big event in our household and a spectacle to behold.

While my mother was bananas about the circus, I was more skeptical.  Don’t get me wrong…I enjoyed the sparkling costumes, the daring acrobats and of course, the popcorn. However, I do remember sitting in my seat with the loud music blaring and watching each of the three rings thinking “Jesus, there is just so much crap going on here at once!”   I mean really? A lion tamer in the middle ring, a woman hula-hooping with 100 hula-hoops in the ring on the right and two brothers driving motorcycles around in a cage ready to plummet to their deaths in the ring on the left.  How the hell did someone come up with this variety of random things? And then think it was a good idea to stick them together?  This wondering remains a mystery to me to this day.

So here I am, no longer a kid with my parents but a woman about to turn 37 sitting at the circus with my husband, three children and my in-laws.  We are not overwhelmed at Madison Square Garden watching Ringling Brothers but at a much more manageable local circus that comes to town every February.  We are in our seats, the lights go down, the music blares and out they come…the tiger tamer, the hula-hooper and the motorcycle brothers.  My kids are mesmerized…sitting there with their popcorn, their light-up sabers and their mouths hanging open in awe.  To my own surprise, I am clapping, smiling and cheering as each act comes out one after the next.  It is in this moment that I realize why my mother liked the circus so much, obviously aside from watching Gunter strut around in his tight leather pants.  The circus is just as much of a shit show as raising kids, having a family and trying to maintain a household.  It is actually an even bigger shit show! While moms are at home changing diapers, mopping floors and packing lunches, the roustabouts are under the Big Top maneuvering tiger cages, shoveling up elephant shit and organizing countless polyester costumes for a variety of acts.  Which would you choose?! It was in that moment that I also felt that while my life was filled with doctors appointments, PPT meetings, laundry and kids arguing over who gets the next turn on the Wii, I did not have thousands of people watching me wondering whether I was going to fall off the tight rope or go flying off of my motorcycle seat as I swung around in circles. Now granted, my applause for a job well done is not as loud but my piles of shit are not as big either.

Needless to say I enjoyed my circus experience.  I stood and cheered at the end as each act paraded out in their flamboyant costumes.  My kids, still awestruck, finished their popcorn and are still playing with their light-up sabers.  They all want to go back next year.  I think we will.  I even think I will get a poster to hang in my garage so I can not only smile at the tight leather pants but so that I can also be reminded that life is a circus…filled with daring feats, close calls and the occasional pile of shit.