Often times we are defined by what we are doing at a current moment in time. I for one am guilty of this. If we are doing things that are successful then that is how we are made to feel, and consequently, vice versa. I am one of the unfortunately few ones that have discovered my passion and am trying to follow it. My passion without a doubt is acting, but more specifically, comedy. Comedy is the only language I know how to speak, it’s how I’ve learned to connect with people, handle situations, and discover my voice. I’d like to think it’s who I am.
Just recently I graduated from the Second City Conservatory program in Toronto. I was blessed to be able to get in on my first audition and I have never looked back since. It has been a year of tears from laughing too hard, tears from frustration and tears of fear, and I wouldn’t take back any moment of it. But now that our final show has closed I am suspended in this emotional state of limbo. Second City is something that I have let define me for over two years now. It was the answer to every “what are you doing now” post college conversation and it was something I was so proud to announce to people. But now that this chapter of my life is done for the time being, I am left in this dust cloud of confusion. I have nothing concrete to define myself; or so I thought.
As I write this I expected to be overcome by fear and anxiety at the realization that I don’t have a defining feature about myself, but it’s the exact opposite. This last year isn’t what defines me as a person, it is what shaped me to realize the kind of person I am. Comedy is who I am. Seeing the joy in people’s faces when I make them laugh is who I am. I am a writer, a colleague, a bottle of wine bring-er to my heart broken friend, an entrepreneur, a daydreamer and most time, a hopeful. I was never one to live by the societal norms and I will continue to do so. But because of everything I have accomplished I am reminded that I am not defined by what I do, I am defined by who I am as I make my way through these adventures.
Never stop being you,
Brianna
