Tonight a new friend of mine asked me what the real world is like.

Which made me think for a second before I told her that I think it’s an illusion that the real world is something other than this.

Whatever this is for you.

Because yes, sometimes we are in school or we are teaching tap lessons when we ourselves barely tap; maybe we are doing eight shows a week or we are teaching pilates to a few special ladies from church; perhaps we are working 9 to 5 with some sweet benefits and a tidy 401k or we are taking care of our grandmother. But the thing to always remember is to keep your eyes wide open, to look around, to dig in to whatever you see that’s good, because this is life.

This is the real world.

And what you do is important. It’s definitely a statement that you’re making, whether you’d like it to be or not. But who you are–now that says something. A nice, strong something. And a lot of times people miss it because they are too busy wondering about your credentials or the weather on that side of the country or even which show you last did and what kind of money a thing like dancing and singing pays anyway.

But just because some people miss out on asking us the meaningful questions about relationships with each other and God and what makes us scared and what gives shape to our dreams and even what our favorite colors are, we don’t have to miss out on taking care to carve out these answers in the details of our lives. In the real world. The one that takes place wherever you happen to be. Even in the grocery store. Even in class. Even if you’re in Paduka, KY, because I’ve been there and it’s as fun as it looks to say aloud and yes, the real world happens there, too.

And have you heard of the story people? If not, you have now. My sweet friend Betsy told me about them a long time ago and I love what this eclectic group of artists make. I read this tonight and agree with it so much. I love the thought of pure meaning–the kind that inhabits those things we cannot touch–being a part of everything we do.

If there is any secret to this life I live, this is it: the sound of what cannot be seen sings within everything that can. & there is nothing more to it than that.

And then, this quote from them has long been a favorite of mine:

There are things you do because they feel right & they may make no sense & they may make no money & it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other & to eat each other’s cooking & say it was good.

I love the way it just throws the ordinary-ness of life together with the sublime. We follow the things in our heart–the things that feel right but that might look perplexing from another vantage point. And then we eat each other’s cooking; we affirm them and we live in community.

And all the while we don’t wait any longer for the real world or for life to finally become better or less busy or thinner or richer. We live now, plain and simple, grateful and fully aware of the fact that these moments–or at the very least, most of these moments, anyway–are a gift.