Constant Craving

Did I telepathically summon a TV star to show up in an Atlanta ice cream shop?!

Let's rewind to last week. I was talking in the green room of my radio station with Atlanta's City Council President. I told him, that after 11 years of living in the A, I still haven't had a random celebrity run-in. Bizarre, as this place is crawling with celebs filming movies & tv shows for cheap. They don't call it Y'allywood for nothing.

I have crossed paths with A & B-listers who showed up at the various Atlanta newsrooms I've worked for (Chrissy Metz, Awkwafina, Speech - the lead singer of Arrested Development, Dionne Farris, Wanda Sykes, Marlon Wayans, etc.)

But the random celebrity run-in remained the one unchecked box on my Atlanta bingo card...until last week!

I had been craving Jeni's Ice Cream. And after the week I was having, a sweet treat was more than called for. So, a few days after the green room chat, I got my fix.

As euphoric as the sugary love of Brambleberry Crisp might be, I'm pretty sure it can't stir up an hallucination of one of the Desperate Housewives. And in walked Eva Longoria!

Did I play it cool? Of course. I know the drill, plus she was with her kid. But sitting next to an award-winning actress who is besties with Posh Spice is a cool highlight for an average day. She sat down next to me, we exchanged smiles, then I returned to my love affair with a waffle bowl full of Brambleberry Crisp ice cream.

This blog isn't meant to be a humble brag about a celebrity sighting (although, OMG!) Did I have a burning desire to meet a Hollywood star in the city that MLK and Outkast built? No - it was just an Atlanta experience I had yet to experience. Although, if I spot Sam Reid or Duran Duran in Buckhead, I might pass out.

I actually want to ask a deeper question about hope, faith, and hearing what's in my heart. My faith in many things has been lukewarm in recent years. Yearning or hoping for anything has felt slightly foolish after what I've lost, overcome, and struggled for before, during, and since the pandemic. It's not that I don't have faith in the big and small amazing possibilities of life. But I am disappointed in the shortage of them. And in your 40's, you're constantly reminded of the fear of missing out, and that life is too short, so go for what you want and experience life.

I've come to realize, that by losing hope, I've ignored and taken little action on what my heart is asking for. And what this encounter with Eva Longoria taught me is I can still be happily surprised. It's encouraging to know that a low tier, 16-seed, kind of dream like spotting a celeb in public can become a Cinderella story and actually come true (and become the subject of an over-analyzed blog post.) If a small, inconsequential hope can come to fruition, it gives me much needed optimism for the bigger dreams in the dysfunctional bracket that is my life.

Finishing my novel, living abroad, finding love, and not letting lymphedema slow me down are the top seeds. I crave them more than a tub of Brambleberry Crisp ice cream. I'm clinging onto those dreams that will hopefully surprise me someday, even more than Eva Longoria walking into an Atlanta ice cream shop.