This past weekend in New York, I saw something that stopped me in my tracks: a one-man play based on Patrick Bringley’s memoir "All the Beauty in the World"—a moving reflection on grief, healing, and the ten years he spent as a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Even more remarkable? The actor performing it was Patrick Bringley himself.

My husband, my sister, and a few close friends sat together in a small 99-seat New York theater. Everyone was mesmerized—not just by the incredible writing, but by the way the space held the story.

The set was spare but poignant: three empty frames projected the artworks he described, a few simple benches evoked the galleries of the Met, and Bringley wore the security guard uniform he had once worn in real life.

It was deeply moving because he had lived the experience, written the book, and was now performing it.

Bringley … [continue reading...] about We Need Permission to “Stop and Adore”