It’s official. I can cross off “Land a role as pirate” from me ol’ bucket list. After a brilliant audition I was named “Starkey,” complete with a spattering of speaking lines and a dramatic death scene. My childhood dreams that turned into adulthood fantasies are finally come to fruition.
OK, OK, that’s not entirely true. There is no bucket list and I’ve never actually wanted to be a pirate. So why am I giving up 3-4 nights a week for rehearsals for the next month and a half? 3-4 nights a week that I could be working on any of the seemingly endless projects needing to be accomplished in and around the house?
Well, this is going to sound cliche, but I’m actually thinking of the children. My children, to be specific. Raegan loves to act, and Lincoln is gaining an interest. As parents, Jessica and I say no to a lot of things. Time and money are both limiting resources for us right now, and so we have to be pretty…oh what’s the word… particular- that’s it- about what we commit to. This is something that we felt was worth it. And, so, since I was going to be bringing them into town for rehearsals, I might as well be in it meself. “Meself” is not a typo. That’s pirate-speak for “Myself”.
I have had to force myself to have an attitude of gratefulness and being present in the moment. I have resisted the urge to complain about yet another rehearsal or the drive time or how I need to be doing stuff at home (I get antsy about doing work. I sort of love to work when the work is on my terms, and it can be difficult for me to be away from home knowing that there is work that I could/should be doing there.) The thing that helps me is the knowledge that this will be a shared experience for four members of our family (Jessica is Mrs. Darling- way to go!!! ), that our kids will never forget.
This will be one of those things that we will all look back and remember how cool it was that we did that together. I guess that’s why Jessica and I were on board (pun intended) with it in the first place, because in one sense that’s exactly what we are trying to do here at Liederstedt – create an experience of which in 10 or twenty or sixty years from now we will be able to say “How cool it is that we did that together.”
Argh.
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