I recently heard a statistic that 43% of adults suffer adverse health effects from stress and that nearly 90% of all doctor's visits are for stress-related ailments. There are even studies that show stress plays a major role in the incidence of some cancers! This got me thinking...
We all experience stress in some form or another. I can't think of anyone, anywhere who hasn't experienced stress at some point. And, if someone tells you they've never felt stress over anything, than that person's nose is probably growing like Pinocchio's! Did I just rhyme?
Those that are good at dealing with stress, feel it when it is necessary. They use it to their advantage and lock it away when the time comes to let go. Part of me hates those kinds of people! I'm NOT one of them. For me, stress is a constant, albeit uninvited, companion.
Ironically, it was stress that led me to a major development in my soul searching journey this week. Doesn't irony just piss you off sometimes??
This past week has been particularly stressful in that it has been my first week working full force since my surgery. While I am proud of the apparent motivation I have, it may have been a bit too much too soon. Seeking to find respite from the self-imposed stress I was feeling, I poured myself a glass of wine and put on my all-time favorite show tune - Phantom of the Opera. God love Andrew Lloyd Webber! As I drifted off into another world, remembering the great memories that particular show has afforded me over the years, it suddenly hit me. My greatest passion has been, and always will be, the theatre! It is in the theatre that I have found the majority of those moments that, as Maya Angelou said, "take [my] breath away." And, for the first time in a long time, I'm not actively involved in it.
As a child, I participated in school plays and musicals. Auditioned for the local talent shows and followed anything and everything that was ballet or Broadway. For years, I danced ballet. Regardless of what was happening in my life, the minute the first notes on the piano began and my hand touched the cold barre on the wall, everything else melted away. It was just me and the music. And, even after all of these years, I can still smell the backstage of the opera house and feel the excitement that hit the instant you walked through the stage door. Even after I stopped dancing, I fulfilled that part of me with teaching others how to dance.
When I decided to go to work for a performing arts company as a grant writer, my passion for the theatre intertwined with the stress of it being a full-time career and this started to eat away at what had always been my sanctuary. Even when I was an audience member at an unrelated performance, the stresses of my job were always present. Perhaps my move to real estate was a subconscious step toward regaining that place in my life where I go to get away from everything - to finding that missing piece.
Given my background, childhood passions and interests, I'm not in the least bit surprised that I found what I was looking for while listening to The Phantom of the Opera (my mom is probably laughing!) And, in a strange way, I can credit the Phantom with inspiring my next move...community theatre! A place that is just mine. A place to let go. A place to feel that excitement again.
It's amazing how what we're looking for the most, is often times right there in front of us. It just takes something (or someone) to open our eyes.
Next stop...acting & singing lessons (it's been a while)...I can't wait! Stay tuned. This is either going to be great or a complete disaster. Either way, it's going to be a lot of fun!
Emily
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