Want It More Than You Fear It

Because there will always be one to fifty excuses to find.

Because your mind will rummage around and dig these up, presenting them to you with urgency.

Because you may forget, if only for a moment, that this new pile of worries are a gift from an anxious visitor who didn’t know exactly what to get you – so opted for this, and hoped you’d enjoy something to think about versus nothing.

Because you never liked stagnation anyway.

Because there will be days when your fear will masquerade as sensibility, never removing the mask to reveal its tiny, unsubstantial frame.

Because the voice of your deepest desires speaks in dulcet tones, quiet murmurs that could be drowned out by the cries of a doubtful side of you.

Because you will remember that acknowledging this concern always silences it, like a mother finally attending to a child.

Because you deserve to come alive, to set yourself ablaze with wonder, and never stop seeking.

Because there’s solid ground on the other side, no matter how many obstacles stand in the way.

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Bite-sized Wisdom: Corneille

Never hurts to get into this habit, especially when all people usually need is a little kindness:

“The manner of giving is worth more than the gift.”

– Pierre Corneille

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How to Deal When Life Throws You Curveballs

No Theatre No Problem

Bite-sized Wisdom: Wilder

It Rolls Off of the Tongue Easier than “No,” “Maybe,” or “Later”

Letting the Heart Have Its Say

The mind delights in lofty pursuits –
Tête-a-têtes in bilingual prose
And dissections of unsatisfying denouements –
Just to prove it can.

But when words grow weary
And wits tire of the unending race,
May you learn to sing of your longing.

For the soul rejoices in hearing its song,
Strains of melody painting delicate truths,
All heart affirmed, all opposition abandoned
With no chance to be mistaken.

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Bite-sized Wisdom: Coward

This playwright’s self-honesty and courage to face his flaws made for a persona whose personality defies his family name…and for plays laced with a wit all his own. Time to let your own mind off its leash.

“My body has certainly wandered a good deal, but I have an uneasy suspicion that my mind has not wandered enough.”

– Noel Coward

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Time to Learn to Tread Water

Anxiety is the product of unease. A cloak of insecurity pulled around the shoulders meant to hide, to warm, to comfort – but which, more often than not, does the opposite. Instead of shielding away the bad, it shields away life in its entirety. This includes the changes, the growth, the moment-to-moment portrait of time.

To reenergize your openness to love and the life within, take a moment to let your worries have their say. Let them play out the scenario of which you are afraid to examine. And, there. You’ve given the anxiety its say. You are no longer beholden to its demands for attention.

You can now shift your focus to the scenario which you would like to experience. Paint a clear image of yourself as the person you would like to be. And you will surprise yourself with how quickly such clarity can lend itself to transformation. Notice here that rushing into the future does no good – it will come whether or not you press toward it. So take stock of each moment so you are aware when one step leads you to what you want, and one step leads you away. Readjust, realign, and refocus. You decide when you’re done growing.
(Here’s a hint: you do not ever have to be finished with this one!)

Image Source: Brain Pickings

Time To Fly

Once upon a time

You scooped up your dreams that lay about and presented them to me one by one.

Each one lit your eyes as you passed it from your lips

To let it hang, for three long seconds, before it hit my ears.

Each thought a marvel of ingenuity,

Aloft with a joy untainted by anything other than anticipation.

“How beautiful,” I thought,

But must have forgotten to say,

For soon you gathered them up,

and tucked them in your chest.

Let me say now that hope is my favorite color on you,

Unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

So pull out the dreams, however dusty, and speak them once again.

And this time when I listen,

I will tell you how they make you shine.

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Fear Shows You a Path, Love Allows You to Walk It

Of all the four letter words,
Fear hurts the most
Not the ears, but the soul
As it freezes passageways to what might have been

“I fear what might happen”

A future paved with ice is hard to traverse

Each step unsure as the foot lightly presses

Anxiously awaiting a plunge

But oh, when letters take new form

And one word shifts its place

To allow room for another

“I love what might happen”

Of all the four letter words,
Love means the most
A flame hidden in unassuming shroud
That melts worry and reveals a path below

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Because Lots of Things Were Impossible Before Someone Tried to Do Them

A little roundup of the internet’s finest wild horses for your Monday:

Thought it was too late to learn a language? Looks like we can pick up that foreign tongue post-13 after all.

Just think! Never breathing, ever again!

Brilliantly done. It’s things like this that make you know you’ve lost a good one. When choosing actors to play you, Nora Ephron gives a very convincing argument for Meryl Streep.

Kids are fantastic. Louis C.K.’s sound like wry comics in the making.

Had no idea that the process was this extensive. Just how one gets cast in a Cirque du Soleil show.

Oh yes. Are you ready to be happy yet? How about now?

Image by Andrey Pavlov. 

You Can’t Plan for Everything – Might As Well Learn How to Enjoy the Ride

When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.

– Paulo Coelho

Have to Let Yourself Down in Order to Rise Up

As you sit suspended, halfway between a thought and a feeling,

You keep your eyes level, unwilling to let your glance take in the depth below you.

You fear that its chill may stall you, its bottomless shadows may swallow you whole,

So you dangle midair above its vastness.

Easy to return, you think, but you’ve come this far.

Echos of “I can’t” seem deafening although no one speaks.

But as you breathe you find a new reserve –

A hidden store of courage, tucked away behind doubt and worry.

You inch yourself down into the darkness and take in its musk

You fill your lungs with all the things that scared you and plunge deeper into the crevasse.

And even as your feet find their footing beneath you, your eyes can still find the light above.

No unhappy end, just newfound fearlessness that propels you up again.

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Up, Up, and Away – Flying High on Gratitude

Hey all, hope your weekend was grand.

Today’s officially the last day to vote for the Finalists for a Skydiving Package with Skydive San Diego. I found out I was in the running for this contest two weeks ago, and the polls close at 5PM tonight. If you haven’t had a chance to vote yet, I would love your help! The winner gets a free tandem skydiving adventure.

If you guys want to lend a hand, you can click on the photo below, then hit any of the social media buttons under “Share and Enjoy.” The winner of the contest will be the one with the most “likes”, “tweets” or other “mentions” under their profile on Bucket List Publications. Your support would mean the world to me!

If I win, I promise to share any and all embarrassing photographs. Thank you all!

Also I was thrilled this weekend to find that George of Vertical Tales had passed on the Beautiful Blog Award to Thoughts on Theatre! Thank you so much George for the award kudos!

Instructions for the award can be found here.  

In the spirit of the award, I would like to nominate a few other beautiful blogs that are doing some wonderful, inspiring work:

http://365til30.com – Lovely lady with a plan to accomplish all the things on her bucket list before her 30th birthday
http://patcegan.wordpress – Inspiration, daily affirmations, and a wonderful blog overall
http://mathiaslphotos.wordpress.com – A fantastic photo blogger with a knack for capturing ordinary moments in a beautiful light
http://barbaraelka.com – Features great photos and by a blogger with a beautiful way of expressing herself
http://sloppybuddhist.com – Really dig this blogger’s style and openminded mantra
http://kraylfunch.wordpress.com – This one, An Appealing Plan, is a fantastic lifestyle blog
http://bcommanderinchic.com – Always a fun, fascinating, or enlightening post.

Thank you again for the award, George! I’m incredibly grateful that you thought of Thoughts on Theatre.

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Into the Wild Blue Yonder

Guys! Guys. Exciting news!

This past weekend, I found out that I am one of 15 Finalists for a Skydiving Package with Skydive San Diego! The winner gets a free tandem skydiving adventure. Over 200 submissions came in, and it looks like I’m in the final running for what would be the flight of a lifetime!

But while my part’s now over, now I need your help. The winner of the contest will be the one with the most “likes”, “tweets” or other “mentions” under their profile on Bucket List Publications. Contest ends March 12th.

If you guys want to help, you can click on the photo below, then hit any of the social media buttons under “Share and Enjoy.” Your support would mean the world to me!

If I win, I promise to share any and all embarrassing photographs. Thank you all who continue to be wonderfully impassioned readers of Thoughts on Theatre, and a big welcome to new subscribers as well!

Image Sources: 1,2
For more about the contest: Bucket List Publications

On Personal Growth

I wish for you:

That each day you may grow up but never grow old.

That your heart remains alive with childish wonder.

That you have days of exploration, evenings of adventure and quiet dawns pierced with streaks of new light.

That you experience bounty. When you feel as though you have too much, share.

That you hunger for knowledge and continue to  learn. Fill your heart with songs and poems and stories.

That you come to know that some things must end. This does not mean you have to stop, it means you have to find courage to keep going.

That you may rediscover yourself tenfold and come to know yourself deeper than any other person.

That you understand you are enough.

That you find the strength to stand on your own.  When wind blows against your face, may you learn to tame its curls and whips.

That you may always persevere.

That you never fear the daunting feat of beginning again.

Jonsi – Grow Till Tall

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