I did a thing in 2024.
I have my daughter to thank for encouraging me to take a step toward pursuing a life long dream. Self doubt, fear, imposter syndrome, and a lifetime of worrying too much about what others thought about me – all stood in the way for over three decades.
Olive is 13, and fell in love with acting and the stage over the last few years. Seemingly since before she was walking, there was always a song or a performance underway. When Olive and her best friends are together, they are writing scripts, and crafting plays and musicals, and recording and editing movies. She’s performed in Seussical the Musical, starred in Annie, and over this past summer we shared the stage together at the Shawnee Mission Theater in the Park production of Bye Bye Birdie.
My last performance was as Frankenstein’s Monster at Robinson Junior High in 1989. So, 35 years later the prospect of auditioning with 500 other incredibly talented actors for 150 roles across five shows was more than a little intimidating and I certainly felt more than a little rusty.
“You should do this, dad!”
Sometimes it just takes a little push. Someone to believe in you.
So, thank you, Olive. I’m forever grateful.
There’s more to share about what I learned from this experience. But the two biggest lessons learned are that of taking action – one step at a time – in pursuit of your goals and dreams, and being open to encouragement and conversely encouraging others.
The thing for 2024 was taking a step toward making acting and performance a part of my life.
As we turn the calendar to 2025, a new vision is starting to form for me. I’m letting go of being defined by any singular thing. I can be a proud member of the community of dental industry professionals, and a sales representative, and father, and husband, and also now an actor. Every element, and every new adventure, contributes to the story of my life. And I want to write a good one. One that I can be proud of. I’m also going to document and share it along the way. Not as a prescriptive advice column. But with a sense of awe, curiosity, and joy.
I have made efforts over the years in fits and starts to regularly publish, but lost steam because I felt like I needed to be an expert on one topic or another. Now I’m just going to share. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Build some projects in public. Try to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. The wins and the failures. As a part of this effort, I’m also going to talk with friends, colleagues, mentors, and others who are pursuing their own passions to learn from their experiences.
If you’re interested, would love for you to follow along here at stillworktodo.com.
Cheers to discovering and doing your thing in the new year!
