The Bucket LIst – we’re fools whether we dance or not…
I met the most amazing woman recently, she knows who she is , she will recognize herself in this blog.. Her amazingness did not lie in her theatrical accomplishments, nor did it lay in finely honed acting skills; she is nearly 70 and just starting out. What was most amazing about her, lay within her, in her courage, her defiance and will to do something new and so risky as acting at her age.
Her husband died a while ago, and acting is something that she has always wanted to do, but had never been able to do. She gets no support from anyone to live her dream, other than people who charge her money for classes, who then tell her that she is no good.
She confided in me that acting, was something on her bucket list.. and i said then ”Damn it , then we are going to see to it that you have as good a time as you can have doing it.” I am a big believer in bucket lists.
She had two monologues to choose from: an easy one that she did not connect with ,and a harder one, that she did connect with. Her teacher advised her to do the easier one. However, she decided to do a harder monologue. I said “Good for you!” – I’ve always been something of a rebel.
She ended up staying with the harder one because that was the monologue she liked.
During the competition, in front of all these people, her eyes locked on mine. I felt like all her demons we’re screaming at her inside her head. I tried to will her though the whole thing. She did fine. She smacked down those demons.
Demons are always weaker than us. Don’t let anyone ever tell you what you can do or cannot do. I never did. People told me not to be a casting director, and well, I did it anyway. Twenty-five 25 years later, I’m still a casting director in Los Angeles, I ‘m guessing they have forgotten they every said such thing. Living your life so no one laughs at you, or thinks you’re a fool is no way to life your life. I’m not aware of any award you get as you’re dying, for the life least laughed at. So many people told me that at the end of life, you don’t regret things you did as much as you regret all the things you did not do. My thoughts are live it and let everyone who want to call you a fool for doing it if they want.
‘We’re fools whether we dance or not, so we may as well dance.’
- Megan
