Sometimes you’re in the right place at the right time and then the rest is up to you…

One cool fall morning I was getting ready to board a plane back to the mitten to visit family. For whatever reason I opened the Facebook app and started scrolling until a neighborhood post caught my eye announcing auditions for A Christmas Carol.

“I should do this,” I told my partner without looking up from the phone. Do what he asked. “I should audition for this play…”

It had been 13 years since I graced a stage to be anyone but myself. Sure, I’d done talks and taught a whole heck of a lot in that time, but it wasn’t acting and it sure wasn’t singing—a requirement for the audition.

You see my second worst fear after Big Foot is singing in front of people. Could I be brave and try?

“Yeah, I’m going to do this. Whatever the outcome, I want to do this for me.”

And I did.

I did it scared.

I kept on doing it.

Worked on reading music. Worked on strengthening my voice. Worked on building confidence.

And now? You can see me this weekend at the Off Broadway Children’s Theater as the Spirit of Christmas Past with my merry cast mates and crew.

It’s a dream I didn’t know I needed to come true… for my inner child… for me.

“Long past?”

“No, Ebenezer Scrooge, your past.”