Breathe in…2…3…4…hold…2…3….Exhale…2…3…4…

Hold on, I’m just… 2… 3…4… Meditating… 2… 3… 4…

Oh boy, it started a month and a bit in and now I’ve turned into some pretentious artist. I’m so far up in the clouds I turn to meditation to ground me. Not very convinced by that statement? Fine. It must be the whole stressbusting and new-found masseuse within me drawing me into this space of mindfulness. Still not convinced? Okay, I just always wanted to give it a try and as Alicia Keys puts it “there’s nothing you can’t do now you’re in New York!” So I gave the course a go and joined a session. I sort of had the same attitude with getting the flu shot and signing up for a ‘product evaluation and communication study.’

I suppose taking a moment to breathe puts my new life here into perspective. And, to quote Alicia again, in this “concrete jungle where dreams are made of”, meditating is quite useful.

***

Curtain rolled back. Lights up. Prepare those tear ducts. “I saw it. They built the stage…” and we are off. Performance face on and the fire within me is ignited as I take the stage for the fourth and final time of my Broadway debut in Mary Stuart. Thank you. Thank you.

Next step I’ll be performing a one woman show in a kitchen. You: Wait what? Seriously, you can’t keep throwing these random one liners!

Me: Well, I had just walked from Manhattan over the bridge to Queens to watch ‘Oh my sweet land” a one woman show for my Dramaturgy class that takes place in a kitchen. I’m inspired.

In fact, that same weekend I walked a lot of this ‘concrete jungle’ (last time, promise). Just me, a friend and a map of New York (kept it traditional). We got off the ship (alright, it was the Statue of Liberty and Elis Island ferry… details, details) and ventured through Wall Street up to Brooklyn Bridge, through China Town, SoHo and then finally to Greenwich Village, before catching the sunset view from the high line – all in a day’s walk. New York is a dream. And it felt like a movie.

You know how I said I wasn’t trying to turn into this pretentious artist… I may have slightly turned vegan the following weekend, when a friend came to visit from California. Ahh, yet another city to conquer… but let’s not get a head of ourselves!

PULLLLLLL! And I’m slapped back into my equally amazing reality. Behold. I’m at Colour Wars, the annual theatre society’s event, jostling for position with a bunch of games between the different Columbia theatre troops. As I stand watching a match of tug of war, I realize we actors don’t need grounding we just need a platform to play…2… 3… 4… Enough of this reflective artist… 2… 3… 4… I’m off to rehearsal for my second Broadway debut, ‘Written in the stars.’

Appropriate, right?

Read more from Small Town Girl here.