An Open Letter - La Vie Continue

With the fall semester upon us once again, I've been thinking a lot lately...I've kind of been in a slump recently, well all summer, with sewing and blogging.  There are dozens of drafts filling up my post queue, folders of pictures from this summer (and last semester) waiting to be sorted, sewing projects in various states strewn about - I just need to thread a needle, pick up a pen and get back into the swing of things!  Those are two of my goals for the fall...to sew daily - even if it's only a stitch or two - and to write daily - whether its for pleasure or for school.  Hopefully we'll be seeing a lot more catch up posts (and a new living history series that I'm excited for) in September! 

So in the spirit of moving forward, I wrote an open letter.  As some of you may already know, before summer started, I made a practical choice.

To quote a favorite poet of mine, Robert Frost, In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life...

It's okay to change your mind.  Change it once, change it twice, or change it several times.  In high school I thought I had everything figured out - a straight line from graduation, to a top notch university with a scholarship, and then into that prestigious career - I laugh at it now.  Instead, I chose the road less traveled - a year and a half gap, a semester of college, and, now, into unknown.  But you know what, life goes on.  The path ahead is full of twists and turns, full of stops and starts, but giving up is not an option.  Not when there are so many hopes and dreams to catch.  

Point State Park fountain at sunset.

After a lot of deliberation, I made the difficult decision to leave Point Park University.  With it goes all of the good, all of the bad, my chance at a B.F.A. from their top rated theatre conservatory program, and my stay in a city that I've come to love.  It was not an easy decision to make.  However, in short, despite receiving nearly half in scholarship, I cannot justify the yoke of debt that I would be burdened with after graduation.  Especially when, more than anything, I hope to pursue an M.F.A degree in costume construction.

I'm a dreamer.  I know what I want to do so badly - to pursue costume construction for living history museums, theatre and film.  To lecture, to teach, to hold workshops, and to publish on costume history and construction.  Finding that right path to get there, however, has proven a harder challenge than I ever would have imagined.  I am determined to succeed though.  Giving up is not an option.   

SO listen up, future self, promise:

(1) To humble yourself.  Be grateful, and always treat people with kindness.

(2) To be patient.  Make smart decisions that place future happiness ahead of short term satisfaction.

(3) To take risks.  Overcome your fear of making mistakes that prevent you from taking advantage of opportunities.  

(4)  And finally, to be content in the present.  Stop dwelling on past mistakes and regretting what might have been.  Forgive and look to a better, brighter future.  

Cheers to what's to come next. 

Demain est un autre jour.