"I have seen the light"

Last week, I had a bit of an epiphany.

To be honest, I felt a bit like Elwood in the back of the church, slow to see it, but once I did it seemed so obvious.

My sister moved out of the house about as soon after her eighteenth birthday as her checkbook would allow. She was working and going to school, generally making it on her own, for this I respected her.

After she finished up school, she had a number of jobs that I considered good ones, but left them to pursue the theater. First as a stage manager, and now as an actor.

I have to admit, this move baffled me. There is little or no money in this, and I felt that you must do things in life that will advance you financially. One must be comfortable after all.

But recently, I have seen this in a new light. Lord knows I have made decisions in life that would warrant debate, but the one thing I have done is work my ass off to pay the bills. Sometimes less successful than others. What I hadn't done is find the joy.

As I watch my sister seize a new life in a new place, I can't help but gush with pride. She is striking out for both of us. Quitely, she is leading the life we both would like to live. A life where the pursuit of a dream, and living that dream greets the dawn with a welcome embrace and an excitement that we can only envy. The close of a day comes with anticipation of the next and satisfaction of the days work.

I was watching a movie once, and in that movie a character was counselling a friend of his son. He asked him what he was going to do with his life, to which he listed a laundry list of professions. The father watched and nodded, and at the conclusion of the list he leaned over and softly said this. To truly be happy, satisfied with life, find something you would do for free and then figure out how to get paid for it.

Well done, Kel