you can't take it with you

After a month of being constantly busy, uninspired, or otherwise distracted, I have finally been drawn back to the blogosphere by a series of rather... unexpected events. I have been rehearsing for a play these past weeks, and we opened on Thursday. Tonight is our final show, and it has been one of the most fun and exhausting experiences I have ever had.

In all, the process for me consisted of several rather nerve-wracking auditions, a massive undertaking of line memorization, internal debates about the supposed "curse" of Macbeth, a trip to the ER and several stitches, a week of rehearsal lost due to hurricane Sandy, a last-minute tickler for the smallest and most polite audience in the world, a surprise visit from a dear friend, and a second performance that involved not one, but TWO full power outages.

But through all of that, I have developed close relationships with many people and have been able to define myself just a little bit more as both an actress and as a person. I think I'm starting to really find my place in the world because of this experience.

For obvious reasons, this past month has been a little hectic. But now the craziness has subsided, and I think I have found a good way to sum up my feelings about all of this.

The play in question is Moss Hart and George Kaufman's "You Can't Take It With You." It is about a rather eccentric but happy family that meets with a rich and snobby family when their children get engaged. In a nutshell, the patriarch of the eccentric family (in our case the matriarch) ends up convincing the families that the marriage is in fact a good idea because the boy and girl deserve to be happy.

The message of the show, in my opinion, is that you should do things the way you want to and value the emotional sentiments of life over the material things. Money is trivial, but happiness can be found if you just relax and let yourself go the direction where your heart is leading you.

All my life, my parents have articulated that message to me in one way or another. The idea has always been that you should be happy above anything else. I've been told not to worry about money, because we get by just fine, and in the end, you're not going to remember WHAT you had or how much, but rather WHO you loved and who loved you and HOW you spent your time.

Though they encourage me to follow my dreams and try to achieve success, my parents have never once tried to tell me what to do with my life. They don't care about my grades as long as I am trying my hardest, and they have always told me that I have OPTIONS in life. There is not one single path that everyone has to take, and mine might be different than other people's.

So this message for me seems like a part of everyday life. It's the truth to me.

But I've realized over the past few years that not everyone has that outlook on life. For some, it's not about how you feel or doing what you love. It's about doing what society tells you to do. Sure, we all know that we're supposed to "follow our dreams" and "reach for the stars." But really, how many people actually do that?

What I'm trying to say is that you should at least consider your life right now. Are you happy? I hope so, but it you're not, why? There is always something that you can do to change your situation, even if it seems like the hardest thing in the world. But isn't a well-lived life worth a little work?

Just some food for thought...