Hola amigos! Whether you meant to or not, you have found yourself at my blog. Welcome! I have never blogged about anything before, mainly because nothing I have done up until this point has been as cool or blog-worth as moving to the end of the Earth. Nonetheless, I have decided to take a stab in order to record some of my thoughts, pictures, and memories from my year in Argentina for my own benefit, while bringing some of you along for the ride, if you so choose.
Based on my blogging experience thus far (i.e. the above paragraph), the most difficult part about starting a blog is coming up with a good title. The key is to find something that is kitschy enough to draw people in without sounding like a pretentious d-bag. This is a surprisingly small window of opportunity. Luckily, the title of my blog came quite naturally to me. For those of you who know me well, you may be thinking, "Of course it did, genius. You are an improviser, and you just moved to a Spanish-speaking country." While both of these things are in fact true, I promise you that the title does hold a little more weight than that, so hear me out.
When applying for my Fulbright grant in Argentina, we were asked to submit a one-page personal statement, basically asking us to summarize who we are, where we've been, what's important to us, and where we're going. This would be really easy, except for the fact that it's a TRICK QUESTION BECAUSE NO ONE KNOWS THE ANSWER TO ANY OF THIS, EVER, UNTIL WE DIE AND BILL MURRAY TELLS US. Despite the fact that it was impossible, I still did it, because I had to in order to complete the application. I chose to write my essay based on a maxim that is near and dear to my heart, that I learned from studying improvisation in Chicago, which is follow the fear.
While it may seem simple to most, this phenomenon is something so very special, and almost magical, that many of us do subconsciously throughout our lives without ever really noticing the immense benefits. The things that frighten us the most always, without fail, lead to the most rewarding experiences and opportunities for personal growth. While I sort of always knew this, hearing this phrase said aloud for the first time challenged me to really think about all of the good things that have come from making myself uncomfortable. It was because of this phrase that I began to recognize how comfortable and stable I felt in Chicago, and subsequently, how it was time for me to move on in order to do something new, scary, and unknown. It felt right, then, to dedicate this blog to a lesson learned from improvising both literally on a stage and throughout this crazy life. Only time will tell if I am completely insane for leaving behind everything I know and love, but based on my past experience with scaring the shit out of myself, I have a feeling this will be a pretty amazing year. Thanks for joining me on this adventure!
SPOILER ALERT: I am actually insane.
No comments:
Post a Comment