Monologue
Laced — Cat
Sam Mueller
Cat: Of water. A drink of water.
…
Look.
She’ll tell you if you just ask her.
She’ll tell you all about the fights and the not-divorce and how it stopped her from coming out to her dad for years But she’ll also tell you about watching her mom and Lira be in love real love joyful love And how Lira became the second parent she needed And I think right now for so many reasons, she has to lean into the joy. (They nudge the water closer.)
(They slip back to the other side of the bar.) There’s a lot of shit going on right now, And always, And to look at the shit is necessary Right?
To not escape into some fantasy land of everything is okay When it’s not.
But to look at the joy is harder, To mine it out, to find it hiding To practice seeing through the absolute hell of it As a survival tactic.
To say it’s just as bad as I think it is And I’m still breathing And I’m still breathing for this To know what keeps you tethered to it all. And when the joy is hard to find, When you grasp it, Even for a moment, I think we have to lean in full tilt.
Just to try to and see what you learn from it? Or not even for a point To remind yourself that you can feel joy still. To just live in the joy for as long as you can. (They nudge the water closer.
They slip back to the other side of the bar.) Maybe you should dance on the bar for a while. The tip jar might thank you, And your nervous system might thank you too. (We shift back to the day after.)