As this is the first post, I feel like I should explain why I'm even blogging at all. And why I'm blogging about running and theatre. I aspire to write...and that's pretty much all I have as to why I'm blogging at all. I'm sorry - I thought I had more to say on that point. Apparently not. I've tried to start novels from time to time, but I, again, get so caught up with the stylization of the writing that the story just goes to pot. This is an experiment all around - in blogging and in just plain writing - come what may. Additionally, the two passions in my life, I guess you could say, are running and theatre. Some hobbies come and go, but I feel like I can truly say that, barring any permanent injuries or catastrophic events, these two activities I will carry with me to the end of my days. I'm not always good at them, and sometimes I really stink. But I love them both - they satisfy parts of me that no other hobby, talent, or skill - or even some people - can.
I've been running since I was 17 yrs. old...ten years now. I started running the summer before my senior year of high school, having signed up for the cross country team for the following fall. I was a late-comer to cross-country, but I LOVED it! Unlike other sports I'd tried - basketball, volleyball, softball - I was not horrible at it. My one season of cross-country was rather defining for me. I played basketball the first three years of high school, but if you asked me if I played sports in school, I'd tell you that I was a runner. It was a great season - great teammates, great coach, fantastic pastime to carry with me into college and life beyond. Running is so many things: great exercise, a wonderful escape, but also an awesome way to connect with other people. It is my go-to life analogy: life is like a race - there is a beginning, an end, and lot of highs and lows in between. I could get more detailed with that, but I'll save that for future posts. I just love running.
Theatre, then, is another life-analogy for me. I love theatre - love it. I would go so far as to say that I need theatre. I long for it. It is so innate to humans to express themselves through story. It is so fantastic to be drawn into a new reality and feel what someone else feels - whether that person is real or fictional. Theatre has given me so much: great friends, compassion for others, and a way to express myself. I can be a really shy person much of the time. I often find that I don't know what to say to people and, consequently, end up feeling very awkward. Acting allows me to embody characters completely unlike myself. A script gives me words to say that I could never think of on my own. I "meet" characters and come to know them in a way that I would never take the time to do otherwise. Of course, characters in a play are often fictional, but I always maintain that while a script may be fictional, a real person wrote that script and those characters came from somewhere that was very true and human. So, while the character may not be real, the character type very likely is real. I count it a gift to get to know that character, that person - understand them better - and take that knowledge with me after a show ends. It has given me far more compassion for people who are different than myself, which is a lot of people, right!? Because pretty much everyone is unique in some way or another. So, theatre...sigh...I love it.
All that said, in this blog, I want to just hash out my thoughts about running and theatre. Document training, upcoming races and shows, break-down characters, gripe about injuries, celebrate new PRs and great performances, lament over horrid auditions and having to run on a treadmill in the winter.
I'm a runner and an actor...and I like to talk about it.
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