What's next?
I’m writing on my new blog every day for thirty days straight. This is the twenty-ninth one. What’s next? After this thirty day challenge finishes tomorrow, what’s next for me? This Morgan Spurlock-esque experiment in creation has inspired me to reach higher. It’s inspired me to start other 30-day challenges. More than I can handle.
Backstage, I’ve been working on a lot more 30-day challenges than just this blog. Over the last twenty-nine days, I’ve had a group of other 30-day challenges live and die: a study of Bob Dylan, a study of Picasso, a study of Robert Frost, an attempt to do the splits.I’ve also thought up a myriad of 30-day challenges that I want to start. I want to train to dunk a basketball. I want to play jazz piano every day for thirty days. Banjo. Guitar. The Bible. Religions – Catholicism, Islam, Zen Buddhism, Taoism. Yoga. Tai Chi. My actual idea with the artists was to study a musician, painter, and poet every day for a month. I got about a week into Dylan, Picasso, and Frost.So. I’m not at a loss of ideas. But I’m having a real hard time saying no to my ideas. I’m having a real hard time just choosing something out of my horde of ideas. When you’re about to start, a month seems extremely long for just one idea. But once those thirty days are over (or close to over), you understand how much time passes without notice. You understand that if you hadn’t made the decision to do something, you probably would have about the same life, just without having done that extra something. So what am I going to say yes to?
Last Friday, I had a bit of a crisis of faith. I was feeling down, and I didn’t know why. I was talking with a friend, and we came to the conclusion that I was feeling down because I didn’t feel like I was acting much. We decided to fix that. On Sunday, I started a 30-day challenge with that friend. We decided we’d both pick a separate character from one play by Shakespeare, and we’d study our character like we would if we were going to perform it. We’d memorize our lines and rehearse our characters scenes together. I’m in love with this challenge. I see this being a regular monthly challenge for the foreseeable future. Cool. But I can’t stop there.I have thought a lot about starting to vlog. As an actor, I think I would learn a lot by watching myself on camera. I also think it would be useful to build an online fan base. But if blogging for thirty days has taught me anything, I don’t know if a daily opinion piece really gets me where I want to go. I know that one of my next 30-day challenge will involve me videoing myself either doing monologues, audition scenes, raving about a book I’ve read, or something else. I don’t know if it will all be public. I don’t know if it will all be sane - just like this blog.
My next main 30-day challenges will all involve acting in some way. I can’t confidently devote myself to 30-day challenges that don’t align with my career. I get anxious if they’re not. Worried. I can’t focus when I feel like I’m neglecting my career. So I’m moving forward. I’m clear on what I want. I’m inspired to reach higher for things that seem more difficult. Thanks 30-day blog challenge for inspiring me to challenge myself.
