Do I advise using roles containing lots of crying and rage as an emotional catharsis for real life events? Not necessarily. But hey, I never claimed to do things by the book. This year...was hard. I lost my mom in June and the months leading up to it were taxing on the whole family. I don’t want to pretend I’ve handled things amazingly. This is the most theatre I’ve ever done in my life. 5 fully staged productions in 8 months. Perhaps I was distracting myself. But also, I love theatre and in many ways, it kept me going. Again, don’t want to lie to anyone, mainly because I know many of you are going through hardship and honesty is a great recipe for healing. I wish I could say I got through this time through intentional scripture reading and time with God. But, I’m a bit shut off from God. I haven’t been talking to him much and I haven’t been to church a whole lot. I’ve just kept very busy and not allowed myself any time to sit in stillness. It’s very much survival-mode. I did have some amazing moments of love and joy with my mom in her final months. She fought till the end and I know she’s at peace now. It’s time to switch things up a bit. I left Chicago. I have some projects in the works (more on that another time). And as I type this, I’m on vacation attempting to allow stillness back in my life. It’s VERY hard. I know God is waiting for me. I know he’s not going anywhere. I know he wants nothing but to pour love into my life. But I’m stubborn. Like a mule. Aren’t we all? One day at a time. — Picture from The Crucible @thetheaterlab Playing John Proctor was a dream come true. I hope to return to the role again soon. #TheCrucible #Crucible #TheTheaterLab #TheaterLab #ArlingtonHeights #ArthurMiller #Miller #JohnProctor #Proctor