(Note - the words in quotations, after the words, I heard - are lyrics from the Pulitzer Prize Winning Musical, Sunday in the Park with George).

I held my hand in front of the painting, colors calling
to my heart.  I felt an energy coming from the glass-covered
canvas, like a hand, pressing against mine.

Tears burst from the center of my soul. Heat seared
within me. 

I heard, “You know exactly how I feel.”

I took my hand away and placed it over my heart. I could
not look at the painting, I had to look away – the aching,
beautiful pain was almost too much to bear.

Georges-Pierre Seurat, painter – inventor – world changer.

I played his mother in the Stephen Sondheim, James Lapine
Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece, “Sunday in the Park
with George”.  It was a role I inhabited with relish. Deep,
deep soul. My portrayal won praise from audience members
whose opinion mattered a lot to me. 

“I can’t stop watching you,” one woman said. “Every night
I watch, I can’t take my eyes off you.”

She saw the show three out of the four performances. I held
onto her words, their ripple still entering me now as I wait
for the next role that calls to me with such intensity.

I turned back to the painting.  I noticed the vivid color. I
could almost dive into his unique brushstrokes, the ones paving the way to a whole movement
in painting that he invented: pointillism.

I breathed in the light. I invited the harmony to take my
hand and guide my spirit. I felt his presence again.

I didn’t want to leave, I wanted to stand there, hand
extended towards the colors for hours. Everyone and
everything else in the gallery had evaporated. It was
simply me and Georges, the colors, the light and music.

I heard, “You have a mission, a mission to see.”

I nodded. I began to hear the hushed conversations in
the gallery, to see the movement of the people around me.

I reached out for a final connection and softly said,
“Goodbye” – not caring if anyone around me noticed or
heard or thought I was slightly… off balance.

I was alive, I was feeling, deeply. I understood.