A love letter for 2016...to me

This is a love letter. One written about something that surpasses the simplistic idea of what many of us limit love at. This is a new year. One that has come with some bumps and valleys, but mostly it has demonstrated the beauty of my friends, family, and even strangers. And my faith has been tested time and time again. But that is the definition of faith, the belief in the unseen and unknown.

I promise to love this life more and more each year that I am given breath. And not to take any day for granted. I promise to look around me during my walks and to actually breathe during my weekly swims. I promise to be a blunt force of honesty when it comes to exposing the truth about every attack on public education and to provide solutions and pray that the right people hear it and respond in time before it is too late. I promise to take more time to simply be with me, away from the crazy, at least once every quarter instead once every 5 or 6 years.

This letter is to remind me why I love being a performing artist and a writer. An artist. One that can be unfettered by the constant strain between financial stability and joy, which at time strips my love down to the bone. This letter is to remind me what is possible. These vocations are separate but intertwined with my role of mother, teacher, lover, seeker, and fighter. I love being on stage. I love sharing a song with an audience. Hearing the notes fall off the page into the mist and combining with my voice to make magic. And, I love being on TV. Sharing a laugh with the crew while relishing in the excitement of being on the set. Meeting and chatting with Tina Fey! I love that the idea of love brought me to the City of Brotherly Love. And I am still here.

I love watching and listening to Maya create new art and powerful stories. I love watching her blossom into who she is now, and I am excited to see who she is to become. 

This letter is written at a time that I am reevaluating what love should and could look like in my life. At a time when friends are settling down and discovering new partners, I am simply loving the skin I am in.

This may appear and sound like I am rambling, but I am orchestrating a new reality with each word. Promises do become truths and can manifest into something real and magnificent if given the chance. THIS is my new confession as a single parent actress. I confess that I continue to want and desire more. 2016 is the year of a new and abundant harvest for my life!