The Joy of Fishing

My father started taking me fishing as soon as I was old enough to hold a bamboo rod.  From there, I graduated to a fresh water rod to catch slightly larger fish as I grew old enough and big enough to reel them in.  Eventually, he got me a saltwater rod and reel and we would go to the ocean to fish for whatever it had in store for us.  
Water for us meant opportunity, and we fished wherever we found it – in lakes, off piers, and where the sea was deep.  Wherever we went, I could sit there with my dad for hours waiting with baited breath for something to happen.  My entire body was in tune with the body of water below us, its inhabitants, its waves and currents, and the birds - natural fishermen, whose instincts we often followed.  Others may have found more excitement in watching paint dry, but I was thrilled.  Fishing gave me a sense of endless possibility.  It was fun because it was unpredictable.  As I patiently waited, more times than not, it delivered.
 
When I left Corporate America to become a singer and voice actor five years ago, I left behind the structure and financial security I had known for all of my professional life.  Naturally, some people questioned my choice.  I questioned it, too.  I wondered why I was willing to take such a risk and face the unknown, relatively late in the game.  I never know what gig or project is coming next, or if it will come at all.  I’ve had to make sacrifices.  And yet I’m happy and more excited about the possibilities ahead than I have ever been in my career(s).   
 
One day, thinking about fishing with my dad, it all makes perfect sense.  Music and story telling are my new medium.  My castings are at auditions.  I created my reel with my voice.  I am on land, but I’m fishing again.  Each day, I patiently hone my craft, in tune with the sounds and the people around me.  I am reeling in bigger and bigger opportunities as I grow and learn.  Life is unpredictable, and once again, the possibilities are endless.   Thank you, Daddy, for teaching me how to pursue my dream.

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