Springtime has come to New England at last. Today it was 70 degrees and sunny, the snow has melted (except for that pesky pile at the bottom of the driveway that was up over 8 feet tall), and the first signs of green are starting to appear at the tips of branches everywhere. It is a time of rebirth and renewal, a season of looking forward to the possibilities of the year ahead.
Maybe that's why my mind is full of thoughts of personal development. With the winter coming to an end, I find myself thinking about self-improvement projects and trying to decide how best to spend my precious free time. This past year has seen the re-introduction of community theater to my life, but I would really like to learn something new.
For several years now, I have been considering getting a master's degree, but I have yet to commit to doing that, for various reasons. Part of my reluctance is the expense. My company has an education reimbursement policy, which is awesome, but it only covers part of the expense. That is, unless I want to take six to ten years to finish the degree. There is also my uncertainty about the topic of study. A degree in Computer Science, particularly software development, is an obvious choice, since I'm a professional software engineer. A master's degree can only deepen the skills that I depend on to keep a roof over my head, and perhaps it would prepare me for moving farther up the professional ladder. But, I have other interests, and part of me thinks a master's degree would be a good opportunity to change the direction of my life and branch out into something totally new.
My return to the community theater stage -- a return I will refrain from describing as triumphant for now -- also has me thinking about ways to improve my theater skills. My voice lessons have certainly been helpful, but I keep wondering if taking a music class or two, learning how to read music better and refining my ear would be a useful investment of time. Or at least a satisfying and rewarding one. It might help me with the period I've experienced in each of the shows I've been in, where I struggle to master the group numbers and sound truly wretched for weeks on end. I also wonder about taking acting classes. I think I'm a good actor, but there is always room for improvement. If I'm going to stay active in community theater, it would probably be a good idea to get training and move beyond the modicum of talent that I have relied on thus far. Especially since there are some great parts that I would love to get, in some popular shows being done in the upcoming year.
Lastly, I still sometimes dream of writing a novel. This dream is the hardest for me to think about, because I've had it for so long. I've read a lot of advice on the topic of writing a novel. I'm a member of a couple of mailing lists for writers, and I've enrolled in -- but never finished -- a novel-writing class. I have a mostly-finished manuscript sitting in a box, but I haven't looked at it in a long time. I am published, due to contributions to several gaming supplements back in the late 90's, but I have yet to give my inner storyteller permission to embark on that honored form of narrative expression. In part, I think I fear the time commitment, and I also fear that the end result won't be worth the paper it's written on -- there's an expression that needs updating. I had hoped that this blog would stir me into action on the writing front, and it has to a degree, but I need to make writing a more important part of my life before I'll be even remotely ready to tackle something as demanding as a novel.
Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't confess that a small part of me just wants to coast and enjoy Spring as it unfolds. The breezes are mild, the flowers are blooming, and the birds are singing, all of which makes it easy to just breathe deeply and live in the moment. And while I agree with my wife that I could stand to have a little more of that in my life, no bird ever learned to fly by just sitting around in the nest all the time. Time to spread my wings -- no one's going to do it for me.
If you want help reading music, I went to school for Music Business with Voice being my primary instrument. Its totally up to you though, would love to help!
ReplyDeleteRegarding the worth of writing... one metaphor I love is comparing writing to learning to play an instrument. Think of how many hours a violinist spends playing scales, being scratchy and imperfect and even sounding plain old BAD until she gets to the point where she feels comfortable performing in public. I have tossed at least 500,000K in my lifetime as a writer, and I honestly don't regret any of it. I know it is part of the process.
ReplyDeleteBut it is a time commitment. And of those two words, it's the commitment part that's the hardest, imo. Many folks could find 4 hours one week. If you can find 4 hours every week for a year and you use them wisely, you could have a 100K draft at the end of the year...