Virality
My friends are killing it this season!
My roommate got a new full-time editing job. My bestie is getting her masters and getting married in one month! Another friend just published her first novel. My long-distance bestie is about to produce a huge play in Chicago this month and her friend is accepting a theater award the night before opening! I’m so proud of all the courageous and independent women around me. I just wanted to open this blog post with joy and celebrate the great things kind people are making in the world.
Can you relate to this feeling? The past three months I’ve had these out of body moments. I’m standing in a conversation where I don’t know if I should bring up the extreme cruelty and sadness in our country, or if I’d be a debbie downer. That everyone is already afraid and I’d be ruining their day out by reminding them of the daily injustice and insanity. Maybe they just wanted a moment of personal joy? But am I this privileged asshole if I don’t say something? Because I still have the freedom to wear a smile, am I adding to the “world inflicted by the virus of indifference?” - Pope Francis. I do think even sadness needs a day off. That is, we have to take time to be joyful, to have energy for the good fight. I have a social day job working in coffee. From covid to now, this question has poked at my brain. Some customers view a sociable stranger as an invitation to vent when they can’t talk about things at their workplace. Others just want a pleasant chat and a good coffee. I not only serve their beverage, I also serve their conversational palate. In truth, it doesn’t matter what I feel in the moment. I will skillfully traverse the dialogue with understanding, positivity, and an air of ambiguity so they may paint me as they choose, and leave quenched.
Writing is where I rage. I weave my truest thoughts into the fabric of comedic or musical structure so that even my most divisive lines are swallowed greedily in the context of their form. I’ve spent my whole life doing this. I was a studious, quiet, and reserved kid, and now I’ve learned to be charming and changeable. Then I emerge on stage with a song about an eating disorder at the school talent show, or direct a film about paranoia, abuse, and imposter syndrome. I know that my thoughts will be cushioned and accepted because they are presented in the realm of performance. I know that art is a safe place to scream. It separates the person from the presentation somehow and gives the audience equal room to consider the themes without feeling attacked. Art is a zone where we’ve all agreed to listen to each other….usually.
When my America Support Group sketch went viral on instagram, I was excited people were watching and commenting on this topic that deeply frightened me. Those were my words and people agreed with them. It was a high like no other. Of course now my insatiable ambition has kicked in and I want another video to go big.
The months I skipped sending out the Forest Friends newsletter, I was enjoying maybe the only other thing that rivals acting in my life, time outdoors! It’s a bullet point on my 2025 goal list to leave the city and get in the trees atleast once a month. Not only because I love it, but also because NYC is a grenade to my nervous system. I must touch grass to put the pieces back together. Thanks to the NYC Hikers Club, I got to hop in a couple car pools up north for some perfect ski days. After the snow melted, I finally completed a bucket list hike on the last possible day it was open - Breakneck Ridge! If you like a good rock scramble now and then, if you look at challenge and get a little grin on your face, this hike will hit the spot. I can see why it’s the most popular route in the region. As a present to myself on my birthday, I went to Bathhouse. (before the popular sauna was in scandal) Floating around for a few hours in their Dune-looking dwelling put me in a chill new headspace.
