singer, actor, dancer, etc.

I auditioned for two of the production numbers in the upcoming Gay Men's Chorus Los Angeles concert and won a spot in the Norwegian Sailor's Chorus from Wagner's "Flying Dutchman." That means while the chorus is singing behind us, me and 13 other guys act like sailors at the front of the stage and run through some basic choreography.

I've never been a dancer and always think of myself as moving fairly awkwardly. So why did I want to auditioon? Well one reason is that I thought being an actor for this number would get me out of singing a piece of music I don't like that much and would give me one less number to have to memorize. I found out last night the sailor's are expected to sing while we act and dance so that idea backfired with actually giving myself more work.

But the second reason, more noble and spiritual, is that life ought to be a series of adventures. We ought to seek out ways to challenge ourselves to do more that we thought we could and be more than we thought of our ourselves. The self-diagnosis "I move awkwardly - I can't dance," is a fiction I tell myself and true only because my saying it makes it true. So I've switched that message with, "Here's a challenge I can take on. I can work hard, and increase my skills and see what happens. I can have some fun I wouldn't have otherwise. I can meet some people I wouldn't know otherwise. I can learn something about myself I wouldn't know otherwise."