Vivian asked me this while we were putting on our ice skates.
I'd been telling her about an idea: what if young figure skaters could perform to songs I'd created from older people's life stories?
They wouldn't need to put together an entire program. We could use pieces of their everyday practice—a spin, a jump, a spiral, even repeated attempts at something they hadn't quite mastered.
Vivian listened, then looked at me.
“Mom, why are you so brave now?”
I didn't know what to say.
I hadn't thought of myself as particularly brave. I'd simply begun acting on more of my ideas. Instead of wondering for weeks whether something was practical, I'd started writing to people, asking questions, making things, and seeing what happened.
Sometimes nothing happened. Sometimes someone wrote back. Sometimes an idea became more interesting once another person got involved.
I suppose Vivian had noticed the change before I did.
Danni