The come-to-life reveleur

One of my favorite books is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It’s a book about a magic competition between two people that takes place within a circus, which magically appears in cities and is only open at night. The entire circus is painted black and white, down to the ground on which the circus takes place in each new location. My favorite part is not the competition, or even the characters: it’s the descriptions of the Night Circus tents, and the experiences people have within them. They are fantastical, but not so unbelievable that I ever felt these tents could never actually appear. The book sparked this longing in me to take part in the Night Circus, even if it’s not an actual place.

In the book, there are people who are not a part of the circus, but who follow the circus and create a community with others who love the circus and make it a point of emphasis in their lives. They come to call themselves reveleurs, or “dreamers,” and they dress in the black and white of the circus whenever they attend, with a dash of red somewhere on their clothing that distinguishes them as reveleurs, rather than part of the circus.

I think what distinguishes reveleurs from the other circus-goers is not just their clothing, or their passion that drives them to sometimes follow the circus across continents so that they can attend night after night. I think it’s a desire to make the circus something important in their lives, and a commitment to it, which they express through their clothing, or their letters to other reveleurs, or their belief in the enchantment throughout the circus. If I were a part of the Night Circus world, I would want to be a reveleur, not one of the acts or the magic-makers of the circus. I would want to feel that commitment to the circus and do the things that allow me to set myself apart as a reveleur, because I think those things would bring me happiness.

When I brought this up to Mama a while back, she said that she thinks I’m a reveleur in other parts of my life. She brought up running, which, since I was running at the time of our phone conversation, I thought was a valid point. I love the communal aspect of runners supporting one another. I’ve read books about famous runners, and each of them speaks to how motivating it is for them to run with others, even if the people with whom they’re running can’t necessarily run at their level. I’ve volunteered at races, and am now a “race ambassador” for a half-marathon in Annapolis. I also participate in my running club at work and try to encourage my coworkers to run with me. I’ve even emcouraged a few people in my ward to run some longer runs with me on the weekends. I think that Mama has a valid point about that for me, and I’m grateful for her for helping me recognize that.

The whole point of this long introduction, though, is to say that I think my appreciation for a commitment to something beyond myself that means a lot to me comes from Mama. I think she is a real-life reveleur. I think her connection to family history is a great example. As I’m sitting here at her computer, typing this, there are temple work cards all over the computer desk, there’s a Post-It note reminding herself about some children connected to a family, and there are boxes of more family names to my left. I’ve called Mama lots of times, only to learn about connections that she has made to living people in Croatia or Ireland or something who are also doing family history, and she can now connect our lines to those people. Mama feels that need to connect herself to a community of people united around a common identity, and family history is one of those that means a lot to her.

Another community with which I see that commitment in Mama is her connection to the AERD global community. These are all people who have a sensitivity to anti-inflammatories, have lots of physical irritations because of the disease, and who are looking for a place to share their experiences and commune with others for support. Mama made her funny, clever, informative video about AERD last year, and put herself out there in a really positive way to make others aware of her experience and the experiences of others who suffer from AERD. What a great message and example to say: “Here’s something that matters to me, I’m going to tell my own story in the hope that it helps others around her.” As a silent observer of the AERD community, I thought their reception of her video was really positive, and so many people felt that her video expressed their own frustrations with AERD. I can’t wait to show Annie the kind of person her Lollie is, and help her see the positive influence our own stories can have for others.

We also see this in our family as book club participants. There’s an expectation that we will not only learn from one another, but also express our feeling about the books we read, which teaches others and lets them learn from us. We have to give something if we want to receive something, and I think that that has sparked vibrant discussion of the books, made us more informed human beings, and helped us grow from one another. Since we started the book club almost two years ago, we  have read over 25 books from renowned authors, from Shakespeare to Coehlo, and we can attribute that growth from Mama. It’s another commitment to a community that she has fostered, and it changes us for the better if we are willing to learn from her example.

I think the best example, of course, is the gospel. I’ve never seen Mama make a half-hearted effort at fulfilling a calling or providing a comment in a Sunday School class. She’ committed to the gospel because she’s learned the happiness that it brings, and has set the example for each of her children to commit to that community. While we all have to do the necessary work to complete our test here on earth, Mama has given us a template to follow towards lasting happiness, and we’ve all definitely experienced that happiness here in our immediate family.

Thanks for the example you have always set for us to commit to something and follow through and contribute to it for the betterment of others, Mama. You are a true reveleur!