I watched La La Land on a plane back from Texas in November. I was taken by the performance of Emma Stone as Mia, particularly her performance of the song Audition (Fools Who Dream). We watched the movie on Christmas day, Dave for the first time, and agreed that Emma was magnetic in the role.
As a creative, the message of the song resonated with me. As a kid, I happily worked on my little projects: replicating Laura Ingalls sewing projects based on the descriptions in the book (my apron was awful as I had no idea how to do gathers); creating word game puzzles similar to the Mini Pages from the Saturday paper; and writing short stories based on the real and imagined adventures my friends and I would have, each kid in my class given an alias character. I remember for a time selling to friends, for a quarter apiece, tissue packs where I drew flowers on the tissues that I lightly scented with a spritz of Avon perfume, wrapped in Saran Wrap, and sealed with a Hello Kitty sticker.
But kids also suck and hate anything outside the norm. Far too often, I was desperate to fit in and not be "so weird!" But then the creative urge would strike and I was off on a tangent, getting obsessed with wealthy philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and spending a day working on getting just the right shade to his eyebrow in a drawing to include in a report for school. This was not cool behavior.
Probably one of my biggest regrets was caving into that peer pressure in high school and not ever trying out for a part while in drama club. I resigned myself to the sidelines, working on costumes, set design, and signing up to join Carla on the makeup crew. Even then, I was too shy to participate in opening night festivities, sitting in the audience and pointing out to myself which panel I had worked on or what costume I had pulled together.
Hey, if you never stick your neck out, then no one can cut you down to size!
I probably would have gone full bore as a theatre kid. I had a tendency to burst into song.
As an adult, I've done ArtPrize, figure skating, this blog, and now guitar. My logo for AN09 is now enshrined in the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame. Another logo is embedded in ice in Holland, posters in Walker, and banners at Southside. I've won Best in Show for jewelry, received grants to create paintings, and been given free race entries for sharing my stories/inspiration to run. And then there was the cigar box purse craze of 2004.
So who knows where your madness will lead you. Thanks for the inspiration to keep dreaming, as foolish as it seems.
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