Lesson 29: Beyond Freedom

Well, today is the last day.

I mapped out the Beyond Freedom program into 29 lessons so that, by completing just one lesson per day, I can finish the entire thing in one month.

And here we are.

How did I do? Unfortunately, I skipped many, many lessons. I got busy doing other things. I got sidetracked. Life got in the way.

Which is not to say, of course, that I did not learn lessons along the way--I did! But how much more would I have gained if I had simply followed directions? If I had only followed through on the commitment I made to myself? Is it any wonder that when when we don't make the corrections, we don't see the results?

The Beyond Freedom course says, "Even a single day of missed practice results in a backslide of progress which may take up to four additional days to recover." I am grateful for the opportunity to begin again. That's one of the things that makes this program so great! You get to do it over and over and over until you get it.

Funny...sounds just like life. Ever notice how the same lesson keeps popping up over and over and over? God gives us every possible chance to get it right!

Exercise: What is Possible?

There is a note with this final lesson that says, "You may now require a lifetime to answer." This is no doubt true! But what I am going to write about today is my vision for my future. What I now see as possible. What I now am working to bring to pass. I believe it is the reason I am here--on this earth generally, and in this community specifically. It's working title (subject to change!) is "e-squared."

My whole life I have been drawn to live theatre. There is a magic in it that I can't describe. It is different than movies and TV--more raw, more real.

As long as I can remember, theatre has given me something to dream about. It has opened my mind and stretched my imagination. It has fueled my passion and given me permission to experience a joy that for some reason I felt I was not allowed to have in "real" life.

When I was young, I dreamed of being on Broadway, but as I grew older, "reality" set in. I came to believe I wasn't pretty enough or talented enough. I did not want to experience the rejection after rejection that comes from practically begging for a job. I did not want the lifestyle--sleeping in, staying out late, not being able to have a "normal" family. And so I "settled" for community theatre.

Most days, I do not regret my decision. I have made something of a name for myself in community theatre. I met my husband here. I am raising my children here. We are teaching our children the importance of having interests outside of day to day living. And we are quite happy.
Before I found this community, when I was working another business, I followed teachers Hans and Dani Johnson. They started me on the path of personal development, and I love and respect them greatly. Hans and Dani taught us to have goals bigger than ourselves. They taught us that we really could accomplish amazing things--changing the world if we wanted to. And I distinctly remember Hans saying, "Don't think for a second that YOU are not the one to do it."

That sentence pierced me to the very soul. But at the time, I didn't have dreams big enough to really understand what he was saying.

Later, I found Beyond Freedom and one of the very first lessons has us create a list of 101 things we want to do before we die. I struggled to come up with 19!

At the time, I had a vague notion that I somehow wanted to affect the entertainment industry. I wanted to support artists--make it easier to create art without having to worry about money (maybe a scholarship fund?), support the work of people who were creating a positive, uplifting message in the industry. I kicked around the idea of starting a radio station that played empowering music.

And then one night I was listening to a training call where Shannon was talking about Donald Trump. She said that at one point he was $900 million in personal debt. I thought she must be wrong. She must have meant $9 million--I mean, no one is in personal debt for almost one billion dollars!

After I got off the call, I started researching Donald to find out if this was true, and sure enough, it was. Mr. Trump got his start in real estate. His father had done real estate, and he studied it in college. In fact, he ate, slept, and breathed it for many years--learning the ins and outs. In the 1980s, the real estate market was having a tough time, and many of Donald's friends were getting out and going into dot coms. They encouraged Donald to join them, and he considered it, but ultimately he said, "No, real estate is what I know. I need to stick with what I know."

Something about that phrase struck a cord with me and I began to realize that live theatre is what I know. It's what I love more than anything in the world. It's what I eat, sleep and breathe. And I realized that I can make a difference through live theatre.

Live theatre inspired me. It gave me hope. It opened my eyes to what is possible in the world. But not all theatre is created equal.

Much of the greatest art and literature is born of angst. Much of the entertainment that people enjoy reaffirms their own pain--for example, your boyfriend cheats on you, so you spend the day listening to "Your Cheatin' Heart" all day every day.

But there is music and theatre out there that lifts, motivates, inspires, and empowers. I want to be instrumental in bringing more of that to the stage AND to introducing it to more and more people.

What is amazing to me about all of this is that I am ALREADY in a position to start making this happen--it was all around me and I didn't even realize it!

I serve on the board of The Little Theatre of Alexandria (LTA). Each year, LTA sponsors a one act competition. People submit scripts from all across the country. LTA picks a winner, produces it, and enters it into the Northern Virginia Theater Alliance (NVTA) one act competition.

LTA makes little to no money for doing this. The authors submit entry fees, but that money goes toward prize money and production costs. They put on two performances (I think) and don't charge for tickets. And there is no prize money associated with the NVTA competition.

Also, there are basically no guidelines for the entries. They can be in any style about anything. And it seems the main criteria for the winner is that it is easy to produce (minimal set, costume, etc.).

My plan is to sponsor the competition. I will design the criteria--which is simply that it must have a particular message or theme. I will produce it and promote it to high schools, churches, and other organizations that want to promote a positive, empowering message. And I will charge for tickets!

I could spend all day talking about what this will be. And as the idea develops more and more, I will write more and more of these things down.

But my vision for the future--my future--is so bright. It is so crystal clear. It is so exciting!