There is more to a clown’s life than putting on a show. Before we even get to the event, we usually pass a whole lot of people. You have heard the saying, “Stop and smell the roses”, well sometimes we should ‘stop and bring some smiles’. I have pictures today from several events over the past few years; not from the events themselves, but pictures of people Mimi met before or after the performances.
These girls are friends who live in our neighborhood. We couldn’t pass their house after clowning around without stopping to introduce them to Mimi.
We also stopped by our downstairs neighbors. The little boy wasn’t too impressed with Mimi. The rest of the family was happy that I took the time to come in and say hello.
It isn’t only about performing. I didn’t spend a lot of time with these friends. Just a quick visit to give them something to talk about, and let them know they are worth our time to stop. Yes, I was tired, but not too tired to bring a smile (and a few tears). Looking at the dates of these pictures, they were taken after Mimi’s adventure on the pirate ship,which included hot sun and motion sickness! (See Barf-Day on a Pirate Ship)
The next few pictures are from various visits to the refugee camps. We often stopped to say hello to workers and volunteers at the camps before we even started any serious clowning.
I remember taking a detour and visiting the kitchen tents. I could only imagine how hard they worked every day, probably without too many “thank you’s”. We stopped to tell them how much we appreciated their hard work. I’m sure it meant a lot coming from a clown!
Again, we didn’t put on a show in the kitchen. We just stopped to say hello and let them take pictures. I knew that I had some place to be, and I knew they had work to do, also.
As far as I know, there were not too many clowns visiting the refugee camps in Tunisia. If I have the opportunity to make an ordinary day special, I will do it. That is why we are here, right?
If I could, I would stop and give everyone attention. I don’t ever want to be too busy for the people around me, in or out of costume.