Earlier this month, a close friend whisked me away to Her Majesty’s Theatre as a belated birthday gift, where I experienced all the Beauty and the Beast love onstage for the second time in my life.
The first time I saw the production, I was a dreamy 16-year-old aspiring actor attending her first professional musical. I drank in every moment Rachael Beck graced the stage as Belle, awed by her performance. (Ironically, I didn’t care about a not-yet-super-famous Hugh Jackman who played the role of Gaston!) During the matinee, I imagined myself on the stage and wondered, “Was this life for me?”
When I recently settled onto my plush red seat at Her Majesty’s Theatre, I recalled how my younger self had grappled with this question for several years. I hinted in my Positively, Penelope review how I had been a drama queen in my teens and was quite skilled at the art.
I really enjoyed acting and performing in musicals. But I also knew the commitment required to stick it out. The potential pressures to compromise. The whispers of what recent drama students had done as part of the university course I had been accepted into.
So after a Gap Year, I followed peace and walked away from the stage.
As I waited for the lights to dim in Her Majesty’s Theatre, I thought back on my decision. The angst of warring within myself, desperate to make the right choice. Uncertainties screaming for my attention. The unknowns of where my life would lead if I followed a different path.
Similar questions Miss E recently grappled with when her university course acceptance deadline loomed.
Having been reminded of what I had experienced, I helped Miss E navigate her decision and, hopefully, reduced her stress levels.
Then I thought of 16-year-old Sheridan.
I wish I could’ve walked up to my wide-eyed youthful self and shared that one day she would make a tough choice… and not regret it. I’d tell her that although she mightn’t grace the stage as an actor, she still sings on one. And she creates worlds of characters where they find hope for their futures… and her readers find hope in God.
I would tell her she might contend with those old uncertainties while writing and creating, but she’d know without a doubt this was her “stage”. I might even show her the emails, messages and old-school letters she’d receive from readers who had reevaluated their priorities because of a story she wrote. Women who now hug their husbands longer. Readers who decided to return to church. People encouraged to hope again.
Sometimes life doesn’t turn out the way we plan, but often those unexpected twists and turns lead to a joy-filled life we never imagined.
When realisation dawns, you’ll know it was worth it all.
Until next time,
