Moment to moment to...

I often find myself thinking about why i'm an actor. I don't have a single answer. The reasons are many. But between shows today, sitting quietly at dinner, I found another piece of the answer to that question: being an actor affords me the opportunity to live life moment to moment. I'm on stage completely alive, in a heightened state of awareness to every moment--every second of every moment that passes (at least that's what I strive for).

Too often life whisks by. We spend too much time thinking about the past, the future, that the present--'the now'--never fully affects us. It's a coping mechanism to get by without feeling too much--a tendency of our American society perhaps? Meryl Streep once said (to paraphrase), "I get paid to feel what audiences can't."

I feel truly blessed for the opportunity to appreciate life "in the moment" 8 times a week on stage. And I try to bring some of that appreciation home with me every day.