A look back . . .

Robin's post of yesterday took me on a walk down memory lane and instead of posting this in reply to her post, I decided to create a post of my own.

Robin mentioned her love of singing in high school and college and some of her crushes. She asked what we experience now that takes us back to our teenage years . . . this post is in answer to her question.

I also sang in the choirs in hs. I never made it into the top show choir because I was too terrified to sing solo (despite encouragement from the director).

The funny thing is, I sing more now than I did in hs. I'm more confident in my voice and even occasionally sing solo (though it still terrifies me).  So when I attend choir performances, I'm taken back to my teenage years.

But my most vivid memories and reminiscences come when I watch a play.

My true hs love was the theatre. Our hs did two major plays a year and from freshman to senior year, I was in all but one of them (I didn't get a part in the first play of my freshman year, "Arsenic and Old Lace").

To this day, when I watch a play, I remember my hs days . . . and yearn to perform again. I even assistant directed and starred in a full length play and a one act. I was an active member of the speech and debate  team (that's what they used to call it . . . I think the hs here calls it Drama club or something now). The coach often asked me to help others with their competition pieces (from cutting to directing).

We attended competitions at different schools throughout the year, and at the end of my junior year, I placed fourth at the State competition with my Serious Prose entry ("On The Sidewalk Bleeding" by Evan Hunter).

Those competitions prepared me for writing because in order to fit the performance time frame, the selections had to be cut and an introduction had to be written (kind of like a hook). I performed in Duo acting, Dramatic Interpretation, Serious Prose, and occasionally Poetry Interpretation. After graduating, I became a judge of these competitions.

Oh there were many crushes on other actors/singers and one to this day that still tugs at my heart. We've both moved on but have remained friends. I will never forget him since he was my first HUGE crush. I won't even put his initials here in case he comes and reads this (because I'm not sure he realizes how deeply I felt).

I still think about him and wonder what life would have been like had he felt for me what I felt for him. I swear, everyone I dated I compared to him . . . and they never measured up. Yeah, he was the downfall of many relationships. LOL

Anyway, back to the actress in me . . .

I continued performing in college and in the community theatre right up until just before I got married.  It's only fitting that the last play I starred in was the community theatre production of "Arsenic and Old Lace." There's nothing like coming full circle.

Today I don't have access to acting avenues except through my writing. Getting into the mind of my main character is relatively easy for me, but actually transferring it to the paper sometimes isn't.

Write on.