33rd and Madison, photo requested by nephew 2
It’s a new year, a new chapter, a new city.
New York City.
It’s the city of my childhood dreams. I lived the dream briefly when I went to theatre school here. I didn’t stick around because I reasoned it would be wiser to strike out in a smaller pond (Toronto) than drown in a sea of triple-threat Broadway hopefuls. Singing terrified me – my knees actually knocked during singing interpretation class – and I had a Bambi-esque control of my limbs during dance class. But singing was my true Achilles’ heel. Well, you can run but you can’t hide – I sang and danced in my first LA stage production (The Colored Museum) and I’ve sung for other roles including this past summer’s production of As Ever on Canada’s east coast.
I bring this up to hold myself accountable – twenty-one years ago I stalled on following a dream, and I did it out of fear. That’s a shitty realization. Over the years I’ve battled the ‘demon of insufficiency’ and I can say… I sing well enough. I still might shit myself if asked to sing but I’m following my bliss and I’ll find something I can belt out with joy. There will always be fear, but as long as the energy of excitement and anticipation outweighs fear, I’m moving forward. No stalling, no deferring. New year, new rules.
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