Last weekend, I went home to see my high school’s production of Mary Poppins. As a child, Mary Poppins was my sister and my favorite movie. We would watch it on repeat on road trips, back when we were both in booster seats. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Mary Poppins, and I had forgotten how much it meant to me. But the jovial music and light-hearted, optimistic glow of the whole musical entrapped me so quickly that I couldn’t stop smiling. During “Step in Time,” my friends on stage told me I looked insane, clapping my hands together and grinning from ear to ear.
I felt like a child again, for those few hours.
We’ve had a hard few weeks. I have cried innumerable times, I have felt dragged down and exhausted. But the world will not end. The sun will rise tomorrow and I will smile smile smile. I’m optimistic about life because all around me I see reasons to be. Not everything is perfect, but the leaves are rusty on the ground, people are alive and caring for one another, my bed is warm and the air smells like change.
When I feel like my hope has run out, that everything is over, I listen to a song from another musical: “Endless Night” from The Lion King (Broadway Version). The song begins as a lament, the first two verses being:
“Where has the starlight gone? Dark is the day How can I find my way home?
Home is an empty dream Lost to the night Father, I feel so alone”
But the song changes, you can hear the melody pick up, brighten. And the chorus sings:
“I know that the night must end,
And that the sun will rise”
There is an irreplaceable hope that fills the song, and when I listen to it, fills me.
After seeing Mary Poppins, I realized why “Step in Time” means so much to me. It’s this idea of dumb fun, of collective joy over nothing. They “never need a reason, never need a rhyme” to Step in Time. The chimney sweeps are happy to get to see all of London, happy to be alive and dancing.
Optimism isn’t smiling in every moment. It’s not believing that everything is for the better. It’s believing, wholeheartedly, in the best of people and of the world. I think there is always a reason to smile. I think there’s good in everyone. I think we all work hard, every day, to do our best. We may have to work especially hard now, but we can do it. We will do it.
In a world with “Step in Time,” there is hope. There is joy, and I will cling to that joy. I believe in tomorrow and I believe that things will be ok. I am hopelessly optimistic about our world, and our lives.
Smile, my friend. The sun will rise. Mary Poppins may not be on her way, but you can work her magic for yourself.