T-minus 24 hours

This time tomorrow, I will be in a dressing room, warming up my cast to compete at the region 3 one-act competition. Unlike the last competion, I am not worried about the results. Either way we wim. If we place first or secind, we go on to compete at States, quite an accomplishment for any school. If we don't place, we still got to compete, and we get to start working on the next play.

I've been thinking about accomplishments -- from most people's perspective, I guess I have a lot. I've won contests and awards, I always got good grades. But of everything I have done my whole life, this makes me the most proud. I have always won awards for things that were easy. The good grades never really took much work, and singing is work, but it always came pretty easily to me. I have never valued awards won for something that was easy.

This is different. This is not easy.

The experience of directing this play has wonderful, and breathtaking, and it is not aomething I would ever want to have missed. But for all of the wonder, and no matter how much I love it, I cannot deny how hard it has been. I am exhausted and creatively drained. My teaching has definitely not been up to my normal standards over the past few weeks. But I will never question the value of the sacrifice. And in 25 hours, after we have performed, I will rejoice.