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Whit’s End: I’m willing to wait for it

Carla Jean Whitley
cj@postindependent.com

Missed your chance?

A lottery will take place for 40 $10 orchestra seats before each performance. Details aren’t yet available. Check ">denvercenter.org to stay up to date on this and any other developments around the show’s run.

They say patience is a virtue, but it isn’t an easy one to embrace.

Look at your calendar. Is it filled with events that give you something to anticipate? That’s not a bad practice. In fact, in the year’s darkest months I sometimes do this intentionally. It can help mark the periods when light seems as though it won’t shine again.

That’s more difficult for me this winter than last. I have seasonal affective disorder, and February is typically my most difficult time of year. The excitement of holidays and sports are behind us, and spring blooms are still months away. Two years ago, I planned a trip to Colorado and followed it with a sky diving outing. Last ski season, my first as a Colorado resident, helped skew my February track record in a more positive direction. I spent nearly every weekend on the slopes, and it was glorious.



Mother Nature hasn’t been as generous this season. Nearby mountains are still opening more terrain, and there’s plenty of ski season left. But no, it isn’t the best year we’ve seen.

But now, I have something else to anticipate.



Let me be clear: These events and purchases aren’t the only way I combat the bluer days. They’re far from the most important means of addressing my mental and emotional well-being. Therapy, meditation, yoga and other healthy practices are more valuable to me. But those calendar dates can be signposts that help mark the end of dreary periods when everything just feels blah.

Monday morning, I was one of more than 100,000 people who signed onto the Denver Center for the Performing Arts website with the hopes of purchasing tickets to “Hamilton.” The Tony Award-winning, history-making musical will be in Colorado from Feb. 27 to April 1, and I’ve been talking about attending longer than I’ve lived in the state.

The purchasing process was itself a practice in patience. Those who logged on in advance of the 10 a.m. on-sale time were randomly assigned places in the queue. Then it was a matter of waiting, with about 500 people completing their purchases per 10-minute span.

My friends and I were among the lucky few: By mid-morning, we secured tickets to the show.

That performance is now a highlight of my let’s-make-it-through-February list. I won’t fully believe it’s happening until those tickets arrive in my mailbox. Come the week of Feb. 12, I’ll eagerly await each day’s delivery.

It will also be an opportunity to appreciate each moment. They aren’t made beautiful only by these exciting highlights, but by the very opportunity to live another day. Right now, though, my days’ soundtrack will be the “Hamilton” cast recording.

Carla Jean Whitley can often be found performing off-tune renditions of “My Shot” while driving through Garfield County. Reach her at cj@postindependent.com.


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