Wednesday, June 23, 2010

It Follows

When I was younger I entertained the notion that I wasn’t successful because I had nothing to overcome. It seemed that every time you heard of a successful person, the commentary dwelled on all the obstacles they had to overcome: blindness, cancer, loss of limbs, poverty, etc. I was far too normal for success. Of course there were those at the other end of the spectrum, the entitled, who had no obstacles at all. They had a parent who made a fortune and handed it to them. I hate them. I get physically ill when I hear that Ivanka Trump is going to tell people how to make it in business. “Rule 1: Have a father who is filthy rich.” It helps even more if he was handed the basis for his empire by his father before him. So, as I neared my third year of unemployment with no one to hand me a fortune, I came to the conclusion that I needed to do something. Perhaps chronic unemployment was enough of an obstacle to overcome. Hence, the Stray Kats Theatre Company was born. Now here’s the weird part: no sooner did I take this step than the phone rang with a part-time job. Keeping to my new philosophy of always saying “Yes”, I said “Yes” and joined the ranks at the New Meadowlands Stadium as a Suites Supervisor. No sooner did I complete the training when a director I auditioned for last September offered me a role in a short film. No sooner did I accept the role when a friend asked me to do a staged reading of his play in New York. I’ve had the busiest few weeks of the last several years and I love it. And when you love what you’re doing, I’m told the money will follow.