(You probably need a break from improv talk. (I know I do!) So, I’m gonna dip in the drafts folder for the next however many days to give us a breather. Here’s today’s!)
I think sometimes about the idea of, if you can do something, you should just do it! We never know what tomorrow will bring – and if we’ll have the same opportunities tomorrow that we have today.
I’ll may write a post (or more) about that in the future and I may have written one in the past…For now, I just wanted to share a specific story, because I think it helps crystallize that idea.
In 2011, I had moved out of Los Angeles on a whim after my show ended. I re-moved to New York. It was so amazing.
On New Year’s Eve leading into to 2012, I walked through Times Square in the afternoon on my way home. I must have flown away somewhere for something before the holiday. I don’t remember where I went, what I did there, or how long I stayed. (This is why apparently I need a blog, or else I guess I won’t remember anything ever about life…)
Anyway, I do remember being tired/exhausted, and walking through Times Square that afternoon with my suitcase (I think coming home from the airport).
I saw tons of tourists staking out their spots, spending their whole day in Times Square. And I thought about just staying there, with my suitcase and all. After all, it was a pretty small suitcase. But then I thought, “No, I don’t want to deal with this in the huge crowd of tonight.”
So, I went home to Queens and put my stuff away. Queens really wasn’t that far at all. I could’ve easily gotten right back on the subway and gone down to Times Square. But I was being so lame! I thought, “I’m so exhausted. It’s gonna be so crowded. It’s gonna be so cold.” Blah blah blah. And on and on with the excuses.
Ultimately, I thought, “I’m going to live in this amazing, wonderful, perfect city for the rest of my life. I’ll be able to see the ball drop any year. So, this year, I’m gonna pass, and just rest and chill out.”
I have lived in Los Angeles every New Year’s since then. (I got a job offer out of the blue out here in 2012, and at the time, I felt I had to take it. And I’ve been taking a lot of jobs since then…)
Now, I know that just because I don’t live in New York anymore, it doesn’t mean I can’t plan a trip and fly there. It’s still possible to see the ball drop. But why in the world wouldn’t I have done it when I was only a subway ride away?! In the words of the newsies (or really Alan Menken), seize the day! [*The exciting music just started in my head.*]
An addendum to this post:
Even though I have never seen the actual super cool ball drop – once I was walking through Times Square late at night, and I saw them drop the ball for the New Year’s Eve movie. It was really late, so I was in an area with not many people around.
It was actually sort of cool to be standing in Time Square (with tons of space around me), looking up, and seeing the big ball drop. I suspended my disbelief and imagined it was New Year’s Eve.
Of course it wasn’t. And it wasn’t the same… But at least I had that! 🙂