Armed with camera in hand and a fresh desire for experience, I walked through the sleepy town of Bar Harbor Maine. It truly is a flash back to better times, when people were part of a collective rather than the current adverse society that we live in today. 

I found myself drawn past the people and to nature. I walked through the town, stopped for a homemade ice cream and sat on a park bench. I took a deep breath and took everything in.

In the past everything would include the people and the place and not much more.

This deep breath gave way to the fragrances of fall, of morning dew, moist leaves drying in the fall sun, the harbor, the smell of a grill somewhere far off and the cool Maine air.

It was magical. I thought to myself that people seem to be looking at store fronts and walking through town but were they experiencing what I was feeling or what was “walking” through me? 

It was then that I peered down to the base of a tree that was planted in the sidewalk.

I had seen trees like that outside my Chelsea apartment in New York City and all over older large cities around the world. It has a decorative iron grate around the base to level the sidewalk and to let water in. I had never really looked at those grates before, as it would have never been interesting to me. But now, sitting “inside” Bar Harbor and taking everything I could in for process, I stared deeply at this insignificant piece of iron.  Suddenly I realized the art of it all. The grate was a rust colored sunburst style piece of iron, under it lied the base of the trunk of the maple tree that began to hint at its roots and all around these roots were the most amazing colored leaves I had ever seen…or at long last noticed. 

I thought to myself that this was a masterpiece of color, texture and shape.

Did anyone else notice this Picasso or was I the only weirdo that was really looking?

I decided to finish my ice cream, leave the Picasso and seek other hidden treasures in town. Who knows if there would be a Van Gogh or a Pollock just around the corner. 

Armed with my new 1968 flower power sensibility and fresh on a sugar high from the ice cream, I walked aimlessly in the direction that the ice cream dictated and would walk that way until further instructions came to me from the great guru in the sky, or Janis, Jimmy or Jim.

What flavor was this ice cream chocolate chip LSD? 

Passing the stores and tourists I stopped at a crossing and looked to my left, there, that was where I am supposed to go, down this very familiar street that I had never been on before. I began my journey down Ashton road with an open mind and a fresh new sense of discovery. A lawn was being cut down the road. That wonderful fresh fragrance was unmistakable but now was not just a fragrance. It was a living thing that brought me to another time and place in my past. 

I walked on and looked at the colors in the trees, the colors that signaled the end of a season of life, growth and the promise of yet a new start and beginning soon to be.

As a show business person I thought that the earth really did give you a great performance if you cared to pay attention.

The opening of spring was the start of the performance which showed discovery and newness, growth and emergence into the world.

The middle of the show was summer with its strength in color, blossom and life, the ongoing growth and expansion to its full capacity and potential.  Fall was the finale, filled with color, drama, movement and surprise. It was a peak to an inevitable decline and would wither into a silent, soft and eventual stillness of winter. A blanket of white covers the stage. Snow reflects light, dark and the colors of the clouds. It is quiet again and it is the end….close curtain. 

Where were all these thoughts coming from? The LSD cone? The cruise? I walked on.

Memories of my childhood flooded my head, flowers, trees, houses, streets, the pavement, the sidewalks all looked familiar. I felt completely at home on this street that was a stranger to me. Had I gone home within myself? Had I now remembered the insignificant things that we tend to overlook like a sidewalk color or the design of an antique front door. A switch had turned on in my heart that was shut off long ago. The cloud had lifting at last. 

The day went on as a major expedition. I ate my favorite food at a restaurant on the waterfront that only Norman Rockwell could have dreamed up. There truly is something magical about having a lobster tail lunch in Maine on the waterfront.

I went back to the ship for a nap with my head full of memories and new discovery and my heart full of gratitude. Sounds like a song…doesn’t it? 

I awoke from my nap filled with ambition and just a little apprehension to take on 3 shows in 1 night. I promised myself that I would remain positive, happy and open. These were the times that I could have made a bad situation worse by closing my mind and darkening my attitude. BE NICE I told myself! 

I hit the little lounge stage to a packed room as if it was Madison Square Garden.

As if this was the most important show of my life. Yes the stage, the access to my props, the sound and lighting were all lacking. Did these people come in to see a light, hear sound or see a prop? They came in to see a show ……so give them one! They had not seen you in front of 15,000 people or on a Las Vegas stage. All these people knew was that some guy was to do a show and they wanted to see it. Shut up and give it to them……and I did. 

The 1^st show went perfectly with 2 encores and a standing ovation. The second show also went off without a hitch. My voices was getting thin, but I didn’t hold back. Why should I? The second audience deserves the same intensity that the first had Go ahead, give it!

And I did again. Now to rest for the last show. 

I went back to my cabin grateful for the day but thinking to myself how I wished that the audience and the cruise director could see me on the main stage. There were all the lights, video screens and grandiosity that makes my one man show something unique.

I had done show 1 and 2 and felt ready for the 3^rd, yet wished that I had had gotten the opportunity to “show’em”, oh well, a perfect day and 2 perfect shows, how good to you need it to get before you are happy?  

20 minutes before show 3 the phone rings, ”Mr. Sorrentino, the cruise director needs you back stage in the main theater at once”. “Yes, but I am on my way to do my 3^rd show”,

“at once” the voices snapped. I hurried down the back stairs to the theater where the cruise director waited for me.  “Hey, thanks for being so flexible” he said.

I stopped before I opened my big mouth. Flexible….me?....did he have me confused with another dude? Ok, I’ll bite, “flexible with?, “Changing your show to the main room. I told them to tell you that due to the rough seas I had to cancel the production show and move you in to the main room. Curtain’s up in...... 15 minutes”. 

There it was. Perfect confirmation that if you are in the rite frame of mind you will get what is best. Everyone wins. You got a great cruise, wonderful insight to what a new lifestyle can bring, time to reflect, happy audiences and because you I were friendly and positive, the opportunity arose to fulfill your desire to show them what you could do in the right setting. To show you at your best and full potential. It all fit like whipped cream and a cherry on top an LSD fudge sundae. 

Again, my better attitude and mindset seemed to be bringing in happy situations that opened my eyes and heart to the world around me. It was working. Opportunities were arising. It was magic. Could this be? Magic at this stage of the game? 

Looking Within Part 1