To be, or not to be…
That was the question I asked myself as I decided who I would become as I made the transition from the hellacious world of middle school into high school. I was painfully shy, with only a handful of friends (other freaks and geeks), but smart. If you had seen me back then…actually, you wouldn’t have seen me. I was invisible, silent, never raising a hand even when I knew the answer, my nose hidden in a book as I waited for the late bell to ring. It was safer to be invisible, ignored by the poisonous vipers who roamed my school hallways looking for their next victim.
I decided a new school could equal a new life. I desperately wanted to shed my shyness like a husk of dried up scales and break out into high school flashing my new skin, shiny, beautiful, and effervescent. I talked myself into signing up for drama. I decided TO BE.
Of course, I doubted my rash act of bravery once I had my first significant drama piece in hand waiting to be memorized: Hamlet’s tormented To Be or Not To Be soliloquy. No need to start with the easy stuff, right?
Shakespeare and I had met just a few months before and he was rocking my 14-year-old world. It was challenging yet it was more beautiful than any written words I could ever have imagined. Even saying the name Shakespeare sounded like a lovely breeze sighing through my lips. I had a bit of a crush on Old Will.
I can picture myself lying on my childhood bed, the ceiling fan spinning lazily above me, the blue flowered curtains gently blowing in the humid afternoon breeze as I drilled those 276 words of Elizabethan English into my poor brain. With Webster’s Dictionary at my side I struggled to not only know the words, but to understand them, to feel them flow through my veins as if I was the tormented soul struggling to comprehend why we keep going through this often wretched life. It was rather apropos. It took several nights of fierce concentration, the phone ringer off, my current novel left untouched on the nightstand, to embed the piece into my soul.
The day of the performance I was a wreck. My palms sweat, my legs barely held me up in the hallways between classes, my knees bounced and knocked against my desk. I thought I would throw up for sure as the drama teacher called my name. It took the deepest breath I had gasped since the day I was born and slinked up to the make-shift stage. And I opened my mouth…
The classroom was filled with words, beautiful, powerful, and passionate flowing through the air. I didn’t just speak them, I lived them. They came out without thought or force but with a practiced cadence, clear and pure.
The piece was over before I knew it. The class erupted in applause. A scarlet blush flooded my cheeks as the adrenalin coursed through my veins. I had done it. And I had done it exceptionally well.
Two days later the drama teacher pulled me aside after class. One of the leads in the school play had dropped out–would I like the part? I said yes: to the play, to the part, and to a new chapter in my life. I was an actress.
To this day I can recite every word of Hamlet’s famous soliloquy by heart, although now it is just a cool party trick. Thanks Will, for everything…
Be all my sins remember’d.
This post was written in response to a writing prompt from The Red Dress Club: By Heart.
Congratulations for deciding TO BE!
My recent post How To Be Very Stupid When You Are Supposed To Be Intelligent
YAY YOU! I could never have done that – still couldn't. But I remember well the angst of those years and how every August I would think "This year will be different!"
My recent post I should probably write a post so you wont think Ive fallen off the face of the earthsigh
"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." Gotta love Will, and being a literature major in college before switching over, I most certainly do.
Great post, great memory and great advice for life in general–just "be."
I love Shakespeare. He is the dude to make you BE for sure 🙂
Visiting from RDC
My recent post Remembered- Sing a song
Fantastic!
What a thing to have tattooed on your soul.
Fabulous! I love Old Will, too. He captured my heart with Romeo and Juliet. I love the line, "If you had seen me back the, actually, you wouldn't have seen me. I was invisible." Great job!
Good for you!
I'm so glad that you took that leap. What a great feeling!
Your Shakespeare image drew me to your piece. I love him, and he has completely rocked my world and helped me out in my life as well. I especially loved this piece of your writing, "I desperately wanted to shed my shyness like a husk of dried up scales and break out into high school flashing my new skin, shiny, beautiful, and effervescent." Beautiful! Maybe because I can relate so well. Enjoyed your piece! Stopping by from TRDC!
Bravo!! Yay! Encore:) Acting is one of the most brave undertakings. What a beautiful experience, coming into your own. Some of the best actors are quite shy. And I agree Shakespeare is captivating!
BTW, if you are still having any blogger problems, I just switched my web browser from Internet Explorer to Google Chrome and now it works!! JIC.
what an awesome memory, and i love the way you told the story!!
Are you me? Except in my backward school no one would do anything as awesome as Shakespeare. But, I, too, made a conscious decision to FORCE myself to be something different from what I had been in middle school when my family relocated over the summer. It. Was. Terrifying. But the boy who sat across from me in 1st period Civics who I made myself talk to on the second day turned out to be my best, best friend and thirty years later we still keep in touch. And I got the lead in the play, but it was a terrible play.
My recent post Is it going to be a good weekend or not You be the judge
Oh, what I would have given for your bravery! To shed my own shy and invisible image, to become visible as you so beautifully did. What a great memory! One that you can hold on to forever…every time you say those words or hear that speech, you'll remember how brave you were to step outside your comfort zone and BE.
Nice job!
My recent post RemembeRED- I Feel Fine
I like that in a short story you shared enough details for me to picture the events and enough emotion for me to feel the transformation to the new you. Bravo!
Ah Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, the best. I didn't grow out of my shell until I moved on after high school. The challenge of growing up in a small town, my graduating class was less than 100.
My recent post Statistics for the Rocket Scientist
Beautiful, soulful, brave, LOVE!
This line: "I said yes: to the play, to the part, and to a new chapter in my life. I was an actress." is perfection!
great quote!
Ha–we did some terrible plays as well…but at least we got up there and tried…and no one threw tomatoes at us…