Thoughts and Adventures of a Theatre Kid

Nay.  Nay.  Nay. These are the voices that surface in my mind when I begin to feel inspired by others who are talented and off doing amazing things in the world.  Anyone else? I believe that I can do a thing and then the voices come in and say  nay .  Every time I think I might be talented or gifted in a certain way something or other comes along to say no- you're not good enough; there are others who are better.  Why CAN'T I be great in those ways?  What's stopping me?  Is it the nay-sayers?  I'm oftentimes motivated and inspired but unsure of how to move forward.  I get stuck.  It feels as though the nay-sayers have won. This last week I've come to realize sometimes you just have to put yourself out there.  To take a chance.  Sure, you can live in a safe bubble forever but you will not grow and become.  The nay-sayers want us to stay in our comfort zones and not come out.  They want us to think we aren...

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door.  You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Lord of the Rings" You don't succeed by playing it safe. That is a lesson I have been learning these past few weeks.  Interestingly enough it has been through my playing a video game called Fortnite  by Epic Games that the lesson has hit home the most.  You see, in Fortnite  there are different game modes, and in all of them the goal is to be the last person or team standing.  There is the choice to play it safe and there is the choice to go all-in.  Choosing the "play it safe" option lets you wander around the outskirts of the island gathering up materials, tools, and weapons to use in more of a late-game setting.  It lets you potentially last longer.  However, it is very difficult to learn how to actually stay alive once you do run into oth...

Ever had so full a brain that it causes you to become scatterbrained?  In such times brains become too full with thoughts and ideas floating around to be able to think properly.  Full brains may even cause a person to do something they will regret- such as accidentally putting salt in coffee.  That was me on Tuesday- my brain was so full I somehow thought salt was sugar and put in in my drink. Yes, you read that correctly- I don't recommend it.  It tastes awful.  Never put salt in your coffee, even accidentally, and then proceed to drink it.  I somehow thought it was a good idea. Salty coffee could be a metaphor for life. It's easy to be so caught up in something that it blinds you to your surroundings; caught up in your thoughts.  If one is not careful they may miss out on nouns of vital importance to life.  Deceptively sweet but in reality salty, we keep drinking even when it isn't good for us.  We want so badly for it to be good that w...

I can't do it.  I can't be quiet and sit and watch from the sidelines when I have a voice.  I'm not going to ignore the feelings I have about what's happening in our country just to please those who I might offend.  I want to do what I can with what has been given to me to stand up for those who are not able to and for those who are unwilling to. When did the lives of real, breathing, living humans become about political power?  When did we stop caring for our neighbor?  When did being right become better than loving?  When did religion and religiousness and following the Bible to a "T" become better than seeing each other as God sees us- as humans who ALL deserve love?  When did we forget that our neighbor is not only those who we agree with and who live next to us but also everyone we come across no matter their place of origin, sexuality, or religion? When will we see that we aren't that different from one another? We are hypocrites if we foll...