Summer's Over, Another Year's Begun

Once again, I must say long time no blog. Unusually, my lead up to the new year was quite busy and very different to what it normally is. In a way, I feel as if I haven't had holidays yet, and I probably won't get holidays until late Jan. Straight after shows came the news of my grandpa's death, then we had my family arriving, then the funeral and after that it was christmas time. While having the family here was terrific and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my cousins, it does take a lot out of you and I felt as if I could never quite relax. I was on babysitting duty the majority of the time, making robots, playing wii and endless boardgames. I discovered I still have the imagination of a four year old and am able to turn a game of doctors into a hunt around the house for a crazy witch while trying to protect the princess from being stolen from a statue monster.

Christmas was lovely, however. I've never eaten so much food in my life in those few days leading up to christmas (we set out a full dining table of food each night - FEAST!) and it was great sharing the day with young'uns who were incredibly excited for Santa to come.

Soon, most of the family left (except my aunt and grandma) and I got back into rehearsals for Sound of Music, which opened last night (New Year's Eve). The show went wonderfully and my family and friends who came to see it enjoyed it immensely, as did I. While I think it could have gone better in some ways, I'm just glad I got to show everyone Leisl finally, and get some applause and laughs and reactions from the audience which always feeds a performance.

That brings me to 2011. WOW.

I'm finding it hard to believe it is a new year already. It doesn't feel like long ago at all that I was making plans for my gap year, figuring out what I was going to do and where I was headed. And now here I am, one day into a new year and looking ahead.

What do I have to say about 2010? It was, first and foremost, a year of learning. That's what I intended it to be, and happily it turned out that way. But while I expected to learn some new dancing skills and singing techniques, I didn't expect to learn to much as a person and an overall performer. And the reason I learnt so much was because I faced quite a few challenges. It's true what they say: every problem comes with a gift in one hand. For ever issue I had or worry or problem I faced, I learnt something new. I learnt about creating a character and having a comfortability on stage which I struggled with for a while, feeling self-conscious of how I was standing or moving. I learnt about hard work, and how mostly a lot of effort isn't rewarded with any feedback or praise, but personal satisfaction and pride of what I've achieved.

Most recently I learnt how easily you can cripple yourself in a performance. How anxiety about a certain dance or song can set you back until you can barely perform that number. I learnt that to fix this, you need to focus on the character, not on yourself, and have faith in your abilities.

So yes, I have learnt a lot in 2010. And I want to keep learning. And the best way to do that is to face as many challenges and problems as possible. Then I can grow. So bring it on 2011! I'm ready and waiting, and I'm telling you I'm not going to back down without a fight.