Rabbit Box kicked off the new year and new decade with a fitting theme: Hindsight is 2020. Emcee Chris Shupe of WUGA, with his resonant radio voice and outgoing personality, wore an outfit fit for a king, an homage to his former 30-year career as an Elvis Presley tribute artist.
The first storyteller of the night, Michelle, described a stint in Portland, a place that had appeared to be the promised land when she and her husband shopped around for a new place to live. But those long months of rain and a baby wracked with croup were tough. She got through the darkest part, but later, news of an associate’s suicide served as catalyt for her to make a phone call she had postponed.
Jeff shared a perfectly polished reflection on his 20th high school reunion. A transformative mountain hike gave him a long perspective on the turns his life had taken. He said that at some point you have to get busy living or busy dying. When he reached the mountain peak, he saw the many obstacles he had been able to surmount and decided to get busy doing something.
Christy Lin opened with the song lyrics “Que sera, sera . . .whatever will be, will be” and encouraged the audience to sing along. She credits behavioral and stress therapy for helping her heal from a traumatic childhood. She chooses to be a survivor shining light on the darkness instead of remaining a victim to the darkness.
Hannah Angel admitted in a story about one of her dating “hiccups” that a guy who had seemed like the long-awaited perfect match for her did exhibit some red flags early on. He sure was hyper-focused on her weight and waistline.
Crackerjack Katie McDourmout is a newlywed. Her husband chose Vietnam as their honeymoon spot. While some aspects of the trip were taxing, the sweet part is that even in hindsight, she would still choose to go there.
Entomologist Paul G tucked a little science into his story as he described a couple of experiments gone awry. In hindsight he realized he could have more effectively managed the studies’ cast of characters that included 10,000 lady beetles and 100,000 aphids.
After his first encounter with overt racism at eight years old as one of the few African-American students in a mostly Caucasian school, Stevie King began a personal journey of cultural identity, navigating the racial dichotomy of black and white. Now as an adult he prides himself in being able to fit in regardless of where he is or who he is with and encouraged the audience to have some diversity in their friendship groups.
Robin ended the night saying that hindsight can be both a blessing and a curse. When her child brought up an embarrassing ordeal from her past in front of everyone at a church fellowship meal, she turned it into a teachable moment. In hindsight, her son gave her the gift of redeeming her story in the same way she feels church redeems her soul.
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