upstairs-downstairs
i'm curious if you've ever had an upstairs-downstairs experience. to explain, the show downton abbey has popularized this phrase meaning the servants (downstairs) and the lords and ladies (upstairs).
if i'm honest, i identify and am more comfortable with the idea of being downstairs. recently i had the experience of being invited upstairs, so to speak, to be a guest instrumentalist at an event i usually serve at.
i immediately started contrasting between the two roles and how i, as the same person, had encompassed both. in one i serve the food, in the other i eat it. in one i am seen and not heard, in the other i am heard on purpose. in one i am to remain in the background, in the other i am free to mingle. in one i wear simple black and white, in the other a semi-formal outfit with matching jewelry.
then i realized the concept of grace. that it wasn't so much about which one you were in, i thought, but about being able to go freely between the two. grace isn't self-aware and it has no distinguishing marks. whether you are pouring the champagne or sipping it with guests, grace says that we are all the same.
there is a parable, too, about it being better to take a humble seat and be invited to the head of the table than the other way around. (i guess that would qualify as a downstairs-upstairs reversal). but either way, it was an interesting lesson in human dynamics. have you ever had either type of experience and if so, what was it like for you?
if i'm honest, i identify and am more comfortable with the idea of being downstairs. recently i had the experience of being invited upstairs, so to speak, to be a guest instrumentalist at an event i usually serve at.
i immediately started contrasting between the two roles and how i, as the same person, had encompassed both. in one i serve the food, in the other i eat it. in one i am seen and not heard, in the other i am heard on purpose. in one i am to remain in the background, in the other i am free to mingle. in one i wear simple black and white, in the other a semi-formal outfit with matching jewelry.
then i realized the concept of grace. that it wasn't so much about which one you were in, i thought, but about being able to go freely between the two. grace isn't self-aware and it has no distinguishing marks. whether you are pouring the champagne or sipping it with guests, grace says that we are all the same.
there is a parable, too, about it being better to take a humble seat and be invited to the head of the table than the other way around. (i guess that would qualify as a downstairs-upstairs reversal). but either way, it was an interesting lesson in human dynamics. have you ever had either type of experience and if so, what was it like for you?
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