Year Won.

They say it takes a year to settle in the city. By the time I moved into my first apartment in November, I could tell you all the different subway lines in Manhattan, distinguishing between express and local; I could tell you bobbing and weaving methods for effective tourist swimming, and I could tell you that the chicken and rice cart on 53rd & 6th was owned by the same people who ran the one across the street, the one without the half-hour wait. Albeit still a few years away from gaining "local" status, I figured I was ahead of schedule.

Professionally speaking too. Thanks to Jee's help I came to New York with something most actors I know are still scrounging to get--representation. Within half a year, I had gotten callbacks for a national commercial, an off-Broadway play, and a major motion picture. Overall, I had enough solid auditions to blot out a couple disasters.

In the last few months, however, things started to slip. I wasn't getting the same response. I was starting to get more timid. I wasn't working as hard. Except reverse the order. I recently took part in an acting seminar that sobered me to how much more I need to be doing for my career. It's said that 97% of the people who start acting careers leave them within 3 years--and that's just counting union actors. One of my least favorite responses to my vocation of choice is "you're an actor? oh that sounds like so much fun, I wish I could just do that." You don't become an actor out of curiosity or because you love performing, you might audition for the school play for those reasons but you don't become a professional actor for those reasons. It has to be more than pursuing a passion, it's learning how to be your own business and coming to terms with the fact that the product you're selling is you. Nobody just does that.

It's September now, and last Wednesday marked my 1-year anniversary with the city. She's a high-maintenance gal. I'm realizing that whomever "they" are, they're right, I feel like I've finally settled in. I suppose sometimes it isn't until you've gone through a couple highs and lows that you get levelheadedness. That isn't to say this past year hasn't been an exceptionally fruitful and wise decision. There are many sins and weights that still cling closely to me, but I gladly confess that this the most disciplined I've ever been. Some habits true of today that were not true a year ago:

- I set time aside in the morning to stretch, spend time in His word and prayer, sometimes even eat breakfast. œ
- I've a voracious appetite for literature, plays, theology and learning in general.
- I keep up with correspondence (if you shoot me an update, I'll happily reciprocate).
- I check messages and delete old mail.
- I plan out my days.

And a lot more things that I'm a lot more of or do a lot more often. Of course there are always the New York merit badges, like surviving winter, expanded pallet, and the aforementioned city skills, but I don't mean to go on (notice the lack of boast regarding that vow to blog weekly). I've come a good long way, but there are still miles to go before I sleep. This year is starting with a renewed vigor, a restructuring, and a touching up. The endeavor continues as I push toward the things that inspire this journey most: a desire to support a family, and a calling to be a man of God. Now let's git it.