I was young and found myself in an acting workshop – my first – given by my school organization. Someone was telling me – me – to beg, steal, or borrow. But I could no longer make out the face behind the booming, drill sergeant’s voice.

But I can still hear it now, still see the room with faces both young, and afraid and shell-shocked, still smell the woodsy smell of the dried palm that enveloped the walls of our little theatre stage, still feel the sting of the first slap that I delivered in a scene, still feel the delicious words that rolled out of my mouth and the thunderous applause at the closing of the imaginary curtain.

I am not sure I got the principle, though, although I remember that it was repeated often – too often, in fact. But even then, I was not sure that I could do it. Begging seems too desperate. And stealing – how can anything be justified by that?

There are those who know early on what they want in life. They know they want to be – president, CEO, beauty queen, housewife.

I did not.

And I looked at those people with awe. It seemed to be the right way to be and so when I was a child I had to force myself to choose to be something (newscaster), not knowing that life can take me to different, more exciting destinations and that it is okay and that it is possible to be many things.

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