I Love NY.

Oh, yes, how I love thee.

We just spent 5 glorious days in the Big Apple.  Though this was not our first trip there, but in fact our sixth, it still felt like the first time in many ways.  It was the first time I had a baby slung across my chest for a 5 mile walk through the City.  It was the first time I saw my baby girl light up Times Square with her smile while also making friends with anyone and everyone in the city.  Scary person on the subway? She'll make you smile. Just give her a few minutes.

We walked, we ate, we drank coffee...a lot.  We soaked up the City; the sounds of illegal horn-honking, the smells of both pizza...and sewage, the sights of bright lights blinking and billboards glowing.  And not only that, but we also soaked in the joy of possibility.  The refreshing drink of dreams coming true, the impossible becoming possible.  David teetered in the Financial District where "the suits" work and busily check off their to do lists, drinking hot coffee and chatting on their cell phones.  I got teary-eyed as we walked down 44th Street in the Theater District.  Peeking in backstage doors, butterflies fluttering in my stomach.

New York City.  Yes, please.

It's a dream we have.  To live there.  To work there.  Whether on Wall Street or Broadway, Fox News, or NBC studios---we dream.  And then commit.  To walking through the doors that are open to us, leaving behind fear and the "what if's" and the "be realistic's".  And we agree with those longings, those butterflies, those "this is who I am" moments.  And in doing so,  not only does NYC transform us, but we transform it.  A divine exchange of faith, hope, and love....with reality.

It's lifechanging.

Not only for us, but for the scary guy on the subway that needed a cute baby to make him smile.

And as I walked through the busy streets,  I thought back, to over 6 years ago when I first felt that nudging to move back into my creativity.  To say no to the status quo and to pursue what my heart beated for.  Not long after I had my first dream (real dream) about doing voice over work--becoming a cartoon.  A few months later, I run into a NYC veteran who ran a top-notch acting school.  He told me to check out his website for classes.  Well, lookie what we have here, a voice over class.  Next thing I know, I have a great coach, a demo, and my first job.  I've gotten the opportunity to take acting classes with LA casting directors and celebrity voice over artists.  I've done auditions for commercials and videogames...got call backs and even been chosen first out of a list of many auditionees.  Could this really be happening?

And not only that, but then David gets scheduled for a trip to NY for a National Book Expo with hundreds of authors from around the country.  Did I mention I'm writing a book?

I say all this to say--it sure does pay to be yourself.  And even more so, God is way more faithful than any of my fears or insecurities, or "I don't know if I could do that's".  He wants me to be me more than I could even dream of being me. (Wait, what?)

But really, it sure does make me wonder...  The world.  It just might be a happier, more productive, more beautiful place if we each took a step toward the little pitter patters in our hearts.  Let God open up some doors for us to become ourselves.  I mean, could you imagine?  An earth full of people being who they were created to be? Doing what they were created to do? The joy.  The productivity.  The life.

Call me a dreamer, but that's they way I see it.  And that's the way I'm going.  Moving forward, discovering the vast uniqueness that is Him in me.  Making peace in my own heart.  And then hopefully spreading it to the scary guy on the subway, or the lonely rich lady on the Upper East side, or my neighbor down the street, or my cashier at Kroger.

It's contagious.  And full of adventure...........

Me and my Ella Junebug--on top of 30 Rock.

(corresponding song: Starlight by Muse)