Step with care and great tact, and remember that life is a great balancing act. -Dr. Seuss
I had the pleasure of watching Cirque du Soleil perform back in December with a friend. I took the 1.5 hour train ride in, did some sight-seeing around the city, enjoyed the show, went for dinner, and then another train ride back at the end of it. Certainly a full day, and was tired out by the end of it, but had a great time.
Flash forward to the beginning of May. I had tickets to see another Cirque du Soleil show in a different city. The itinerary for the day was more or less the same as my previous experience, but wow, did the day ever go differently. I knew I was in trouble when the show started off by one of those competitions where they see what seating area can cheer the loudest. Coming from a background of post-concussion syndrome, these contests spell bad news. Who decided it was a good idea to scream as loud as possible, for fun, in the first place? Is the minuscule amount of entertainment pleasure some may derive from having the volume louder worth the pain it can cause to those sensitive to such things? It was tempting to walk out at that point, but the promise of a good performance and $80+ per ticket, I wanted to stay and see what the rest of the show brought.
There were some incredible acts, but unfortunately these were accompanied by music so loud you couldn’t even hear the crowd cheer. And I’ll remind you this is the same crowd, who at the beginning of the show had mightily demonstrated capabilities of reaching very loud volumes. Some unfortunate placement of spotlights also shone bright light directly in the eye of audience members. I didn’t make it past the intermission.
It was frustrating. I felt defeated. There was no physical or cognitive exertion required from me, I just had to sit there and take in a show, which I was eagerly looking forward to enjoying. Why was it so difficult? Why did I struggle so much this time when a few months earlier my day went without a hitch?
It was a reminder that in some ways I’m still not past this “brain injury”. There are good days and bad days, and I can’t always control them. I still need to walk the tight-rope, and juggle my priorities – balancing to making the most of the abilities I have while respecting the limits that still exist.
presently.post.concussion. 