"Big Plays"

I often wonder if I am one who misses the “big plays”.

I don’t read the newspaper often enough. Rather, I catch what I can online. I don’t have time (or patience) for professional sports given how busy my life is generally. I confuse Robert De Niro for Al Pacino like I did today after seeing "Silver Lining Playbook" and wouldn’t recognize Justin Bieber if he handed me a signed photograph. I haven't read all of the classics. I have no idea about movie titles, greatest performances of all times, musical references or – sometimes- what happened down the street yesterday. As for People Magazine? Pschht. Never. On the one hand, it makes me feel a bit outside of the 'real' world. The truth is, however, I am more in it than most.

I notice things that others do not – a glance from one person to another and the story it tells, the sad look on a complete stranger’s face as she passes me on the street, a ticket stub left on a street corner by accident or design. I am aware of the scent of sweat or fear on the person beside me on the subway and the slight tremble in a handshake from a work colleague I am meeting for the very first time. I fully appreciate the joy of the color coral. Vibrant. Alive. Faint traces of pipe tobacco carry a story of the one who exhaled. And I never miss the “feeling” of my children as they walk through the door after a day at school. I am in it. In my small, sometimes unnoticed space…I am fully in it.

I can’t tell you who won the SuperBowl last year. I can’t even tell you who advanced to the Playoffs today. I don’t remember the name of the Viking who missed an important regular season record by 9 short yards today even though it was mentioned many, MANY times.

As for my immediate life? Different story entirely. As Robert De Niro's character (yes, De Niro not Pacino) said in the movie today, "(w)hen life reaches out with a moment like this, it's a sin if you don't reach back." Sometimes it is the unexpected move or subtle error that makes for the "biggest play." Don't miss those in your own front yard. They can change the entire course of the game.