“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts…”

–William Shakespeare

When I discovered that my soul purpose in life is to perform, my  mind went into a tailspin. I was shy. I got so nervous around performing that I would be nauseous and my mind would go blank. I remember a piano recital where I played the first chord of the piece and it wasn’t the right notes. And I tried a few more times and just couldn’t find those first notes. From then on, I was extremely afraid of performing–especially from memory, at the piano. I didn’t let that stop me, though. I ended up majoring in piano performance and completing the Bachelor of Arts degree. I even continued in the field of music as a music educator in public schools.  I faced those fears and moved past them. If your soul purpose is truly what you are here on this Earth to do, then why has this eluded me? Or has it? When I perform, it is not always on the stage, but rather the stage of life. I can see all the different roles I have played in my life.

I have always embraced change. To me, it is yet another role to play. It’s like when you get the part you are to play. You open that brand new script and begin to read over the story, paying attention to the role you will play. Then you read through with the other cast members. And then you start embodying the character as you learn and memorize the lines. You learn the blocking, and the sets and costumes are created. All of those pieces of the play assist you in making your character more real to your audience. It has to feel real to you before you can convey that to your audience. And then you get to the run-throughs on stage, the dress rehearsals, the preview, and finally the real, live performance with an audience. Feeling the response of real people, hearing their laughter and other audible reactions, the applause, the attention they give to all that is happening on stage. And there are multiple performances of the same exact play, yet each one is unique because it is live. The players are the same, lines are the same (unless someone forgets a line–that’s always fun!), the costumes and set are all the same, so what is different? The audience is different and each time we perform, the actors are different people because in every moment we are a new person.

As I look over my life, there are clear roles that I play. Even now, I play many roles and move effortlessly through them: single mother of a senior in high school and one in college, homeowner, pet owner, piano teacher, musician, pianist, conductor, writer, actor, artist, business owner, spiritual being. And sometimes we have roles we used to play and we can hang those playbills on our wall and admire them. For me, I have been a wife, music teacher in schools, college professor, mother of young children, and children’s party planner, ballet dancer and choir director. I have been a baby, a child, a school girl, a sister, a daughter, high school student, a college student, a chorister and more. There are roles I still expect to play and roles I dream to play. The fun of it all is that we get to choose how we play these roles. We can be the academy award winning actor, or the soap opera star, or the stand up comedian. Everyday, we wake up and choose the role(s) we are playing today.

Sometimes I think life would be so much easier if we had a director that would guide us to our best performance. If there was someone out there that said, “try that again with a little more feeling”. Or “what if you accent the line this way?”. Or, “let’s change your costume”, “let’s change the way you move through this scene”, “what if you stand over here and walk this way?” “Oh yes, that’s magnificent!” There are people who show up for me in my life that fill that role for me sometimes–friends, family, doctors, and even strangers. And when there is no one physically doing that for me, then I always have God, Spirit, Source, guides, angels, fairies, and other helpful beings there to show me the way. I trust in what many of us call “intuition”. I think it’s all pretty much the same thing. It just depends on the role you are playing, and how much guidance you want or need. It’s not about being perfect. It’s about living the best life we have in us to live. 

What roles are you playing? Have you won awards? What are your dream roles? I’d love  to hear about it in the comments.

Here is the rest of that quote in case you are interested:

 

All the world’s a stage,

and all the men and women merely players:

They have their exits and their entrances;

and one man in his time plays many parts’His acts being

seven ages. At first the infant, mewling and puking in

the nurses arms. And then the whining schoolboy,with his satchel and shining

morning face, creeping like snail unwillingly to school.

and then the lover sighing like furnace, with a woeful

ballad made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,

full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard.

Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking

the bubble reputation even in the cannon’s mouth.

And then the justice, in fair round belly with good

capon lined, with eyes severe and beard of formal cut,

Full of wise saws and modern instances;

And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts into

the lean and slippered pantaloon, with spectacles on nose

and pouch on side, His youthful hose, well saved, a world

too wide for his shrunk shanks; and his big manly voice

turning again towards Childish treble, pipes and

whistles in his sound. Last scene of all that ends this

strange eventful history, Is second childishness, and mere

oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every-

thing. (Cheerful to know what’s in store for us,isn’t

it?!) —William Shakespeare