Your talent holds your happiness

It’s not easy to keep up on the bills when you’re an artist married to an actor. Sure, we have had moments of weakness where one of us has told the other, “Get a JOB, already,” but never will we return to the soul-sucking jobs of our past. Sure, I made good money as an accountant and Jim did well working for the Federal Government – and both are perfectly respectable careers (well…working for the Fed is debatable on any given day…but I digress…) – but when you’ve tasted freedom as we both have, it is hard to give it up for “security.” What is security of finances at the expense of happiness? I’ve found some of my greatest joy in some of my poorest moments.

This week, I made this graphic to celebrate Jim boldly stepping out of his comfort zone. He is a gifted actor, singer, writer, and husband (hey, that’s a talent, trust me!) – but he’s never stretched himself to try Shakespeare. Someone referred him to an audition and, tossing all fear aside (I mean, really, what’s the worst that could have happened?) he auditioned. And got the part.

It gets better.

He had also made callbacks to be an extra in a zombie movie. While he’s pretty much a natural before his morning coffee, he does aspire to more than just extrahood. The director was joking about how he should have an announcer for the show. Jim, in his best announcer voice said, “It’s Zombie Night Live!” – and got that job. He might not even have to dress up as a zombie. Cool.

Riding the high of an incredible couple of days, Jim also got a third (and fourth part in a separate vignette) in a showcase.

Forsooth! He is now a PAID actor. He did not give up, and I hope he never does. I know I won’t.

It all started with Jim stepping W-A-Y out of his comfort zone and chasing after his dream to use and hone his given talents.

Do you have a gift that should be shared? What is holding you back?
{"cc_re__cc_re__cc_by_3_0_us": ["\"><a href=\"http://www.hopespeaking.com/resources-for-improv-and-comedy/\">Resources for Improv and Comedy</a></li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-1839\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-1839\"><a href=\"http://www.hopespeaking.com/about-melanie/\">About M\u00e9lanie</a></li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-1834\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-1834\"><a href=\"http://www.hopespeaking.com/loh/\">LOH archives</a></li>\n</ul></nav><div id=\"site-copyright\"><a rel=\"license\" href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/\"><img alt=\"Creative Commons License\" style=\"border-width:0\" src=\"http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/3.0/us/88x31.png\" /></a> \r\n  \u00a92015 Hope Speaking, LLC</div>\t<div style=\"text-align:center;padding:5px 0 2px;text-transform:uppercase;font-size:12px;margin:1em auto 0;\">\n\tPowered by <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://www.cryoutcreations.eu\" title=\"Parabola Theme by Cryout Creations\">Parabola</a> &amp; <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://wordpress.org/\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Semantic Personal Publishing Platform\">  Wor"], "copyright__copyright__copyright": ["Live!\u201d \u2013 and got that job. He might not even have to dress up as a zombie. Cool.\n\nRiding the high of an incredible couple of days, Jim also got a third (and fourth part in a separate vignette) in a showcase.\n\nForsooth! He is now a PAID actor. He did not give up, and I hope he never does. I know I won\u2019t.\n\nIt all started with Jim stepping W-A-Y out of his comfort zone and chasing after his dream to use and hone his given talents.\n\nDo you have a gift that should be shared? What is holding you back?", "Live!\u201d \u2013 and got that job. He might not even have to dress up as a zombie. Cool.\n\nRiding the high of an incredible couple of days, Jim also got a third (and fourth part in a separate vignette) in a showcase.\n\nForsooth! He is now a PAID actor. He did not give up, and I hope he never does. I know I won\u2019t.\n\nIt all started with Jim stepping W-A-Y out of his comfort zone and chasing after his dream to use and hone his given talents.\n\nDo you have a gift that should be shared? What is holding you back?", "Live!\u201d \u2013 and got that job. He might not even have to dress up as a zombie. Cool.\n\nRiding the high of an incredible couple of days, Jim also got a third (and fourth part in a separate vignette) in a showcase.\n\nForsooth! He is now a PAID actor. He did not give up, and I hope he never does. I know I won\u2019t.\n\nIt all started with Jim stepping W-A-Y out of his comfort zone and chasing after his dream to use and hone his given talents.\n\nDo you have a gift that should be shared? What is holding you back?", "Live!\u201d \u2013 and got that job. He might not even have to dress up as a zombie. Cool.\n\nRiding the high of an incredible couple of days, Jim also got a third (and fourth part in a separate vignette) in a showcase.\n\nForsooth! He is now a PAID actor. He did not give up, and I hope he never does. I know I won\u2019t.\n\nIt all started with Jim stepping W-A-Y out of his comfort zone and chasing after his dream to use and hone his given talents.\n\nDo you have a gift that should be shared? What is holding you back?", "Live!\u201d \u2013 and got that job. He might not even have to dress up as a zombie. Cool.\n\nRiding the high of an incredible couple of days, Jim also got a third (and fourth part in a separate vignette) in a showcase.\n\nForsooth! He is now a PAID actor. He did not give up, and I hope he never does. I know I won\u2019t.\n\nIt all started with Jim stepping W-A-Y out of his comfort zone and chasing after his dream to use and hone his given talents.\n\nDo you have a gift that should be shared? What is holding you back?", "Live!\u201d \u2013 and got that job. He might not even have to dress up as a zombie. Cool.\n\nRiding the high of an incredible couple of days, Jim also got a third (and fourth part in a separate vignette) in a showcase.\n\nForsooth! He is now a PAID actor. He did not give up, and I hope he never does. I know I won\u2019t.\n\nIt all started with Jim stepping W-A-Y out of his comfort zone and chasing after his dream to use and hone his given talents.\n\nDo you have a gift that should be shared? What is holding you back?", "Live!\u201d \u2013 and got that job. He might not even have to dress up as a zombie. Cool.\n\nRiding the high of an incredible couple of days, Jim also got a third (and fourth part in a separate vignette) in a showcase.\n\nForsooth! He is now a PAID actor. He did not give up, and I hope he never does. I know I won\u2019t.\n\nIt all started with Jim stepping W-A-Y out of his comfort zone and chasing after his dream to use and hone his given talents.\n\nDo you have a gift that should be shared? What is holding you back?"]}