Time flies...

So I totally forgot that I had this blog. Although, I don't know if I can really call it a blog given that I wrote one entry, epic though it was. Ironically, I just got over another plague like cold. I swear I am the only person that can be on death's door from a cold.

Anyway, I did something this summer that I never thought I would ever do again. I auditioned for a musical! Now, this was community theater and not professional, but after graduation from high school having done theater through out my four years in those paste colored halls, and not ever having the opportunity to participate in college, I never thought I would get the opportunity again. Boy was I wrong. I was reading the paper online one lazy Saturday back in May and saw this article about a local theater group that was doing a production of "How to Succeed Without Really Trying." Of course, being that my timing is always perfect, I had just missed the performance. However, the article gave me enough information about the group that I was intrigued and decided to do what I do best: research. I am a born researcher. I thrive in the depths of library catologs (do kids even use those anymore? How sad.) I am happiest when I am surrounded by books, searching for that one nudgey fact. I live for that moment when I find what I have been searching for. Am I a complete nerd? Absolutely. I have come to terms with it.

So after researching this group, I decided to bite the proverbial bullet and audition. I have missed singing so much. Not that I don't sing 24 hours of everyday, but in a group...it had been way too long. After three weeks of agonizing over which song to sing and worrying about the dance portion of the audition, the day finally arrived. I was so nervous, I had looped back around to excited again. I didn't need to worry though. I did fine. I wasn't sure what would come of it, but I felt great that I had done it. I waiting on bated breathe for the phone call from the director, telling me what I was being offered in the show. I waited and waited....and waited. I started thinking..."I guess it just wasn't mean to be." Then Sunday, after four days...I got the call. I was being offered the part of a featured soloist through the performance (a medley of movie musicals). I was over the moon.

Still on the high from my long awaited phone call, I arrived at the first rehearsal. I walked in the door, sat down in a chair off to the side, and took in my surroundings. Now, the thing to know about me is that I am a talker. I am about as gregarious as they come. However, unless I feel comfortable in my surroundings, you will never know that. By the end of the first rehearsal, I was ready to leave and not come back. I was thinking to myself "this is never going to work. This group is not for me." Boy was I wrong. It took about half of the six week lead time before the show, but now I feel like I have known these people all my life. It is such a great feeling. This part of my life is totally mine. No one from work is involved. None of my core group of friends is in it. It's totally mine. Selfish as it may sound, it feels fantastic to have one aspect of my life that I can call my own. Where at the end of the day, I can go to rehearsal and be surrounded by one of the most loving, supportive and fun groups I've ever encountered in my 27 years of life.

The show is over, but the excitement is still there. Auditions for the next show are next Monday. I can hardly wait. Not a day goes by that someone from the group doesn't comment on a facebook status of mine, or there is not an email thread. I realized that I am not the only one that has grown to depend on this fantastic, on tune and shuffle step outlet. It's really a family. Cheesy yes, but true, definitely.

So the morale of the story is, I took a chance and did something that everyone kind of thought was weird, and in the end I found a group that has made me happier than I remember being in a long time. I followed my heart, and I ended with a song. And there folks, is your silver lining.