I spent the weekend at home in Cincinnati visiting friends and family. I thought about taking my game pieces with me to take photos of them in a new environment, but I wanted to minimize things that would distract me from spending time with my family and friends. Also, I was trying to relax! I’m not great at that.

I ended up being inspired by all the cool stuff my mom has around her house. So for a short while my Instagram became devoted to capturing my Mom’s art, gardens, and cool collections.

Here are some of my favorites of her “bling” as my Mom would describe it.

I’m finding a huge amount of joy in the game piece photography project I’ve undertaken recently. In part, I think the satisfaction I’m experiencing is due to having low expectations on myself as a photographer.

As Twyla Tharp says in her book The Creative Habit, “inexperience erases fear. You do not know what is and is not possible and therefore everything is possible.”

Should I be shooting these on my phone? Is this lighting okay? It’s kind of out of focus, but I think it looks cool. So I share the photo on Instagram, and it gets out into the world before I have too much time to judge myself.

I’m going to try to bring this fearlessness back into my improv–an art form where I have more expectation on myself now that I’m a teacher and coach. With improv, a lot of people say they want to be able to “not think” but for me that translates to “not judge.”

I’m pretty good on stage about not letting self judgement get in the way of my performance. I’m grateful for the training that I have and know that I am a better performer for it, but sometimes I miss the joys of inexperience when I was fearless on stage because I didn’t know what to fear.

Lately I’ve become pretty fit. I go to the gym three times a week, run outside the gym, and eat a paleo-inspired, protein rich diet that helps me build strength. Much has been written about the challenges and benefits of maintaining fitness. Here are my observations:

• PRO of Fitness: I can buy kitty litter in 35lb pails. I feel like I have superhuman strength when I carry a pail from my car into the house.
• CON of Fitness: My armpits have become weirdly difficult to shave. They’re hollower so have to hold the skin taught with one hand while I try to shave with the other. Difficult to manage.

My armpits are patchier than they used to be, but when I carry kitty litter, I feel like a superhero. Tradeoffs.

Here’s a pic of me during a run. Still trying to determine for myself whether gym selfies are a pro or con of fitness.

Four years ago today I left academia. This blog first served to help me process that transition so I wanted to check in on this anniversary.

What’s happened in the last four years? I’ve succeeded in establishing a new identity–a performer, writer, and teacher who helps run a comedy theater and training center. I’ve produced a ton of shows and performed in many. I’ve studied writing, acting, and comedy extensively. I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with a bunch of talented people and to help others realize their creative dreams on stage.

I still struggle with figuring out exactly what I want to do–trying to set big goals and achieve them. I still deal with stress, anxieties, and frustrations. There are still parts of me that are sad and wish things had worked out in academia (although I recognize that I would have needed to be a fundamentally different person). I’m glad I still have the opportunity to be part of an academic community via my husband.

In the last four years, I’ve cried way less and laughed more (a byproduct of my new career). I’m much happier, and it started the day I left. Like a point of discontinuity, my happiness jumped.

Would I advise leaving academia? It’s definitely a case-by-case situation. Me: yes. My husband: no. For him, academia is awesome! But what I would advise is this: if you have the opportunity to make your life significantly happier, try to take it even though it’s scary to make the leap.

From Wikimedia Commons