It’s come time that I finally get down to business… Quite literally. Business. Show business! That feels so cool to say, you know… Show biz… I imagine some Italian mobster from the 1950s with a cigar in his mouth, waving his hand around authoritatively from the directors chair when I say that. Which is a fond memory for me, considering I have a huge Italian (Actually… Sicilian) family on my moms’ side!
“Piano Nostalgia” by Annette
That was a bunny trail, but a fun illustration nonetheless. I’ve prayed about it, and thought about what I like to do, and what God has equipped me to do… And I feel He’s leading me into the arts. Of course, I’ve always been into it, but now it seems He’s specifically leading me into playing piano and acting. Oh, and writing. Because I always have something to say!
I really didn’t care much for playing piano when I first started taking lessons. It was such a chore, because I didn’t see the use for it! But somehow I was able to keep going and feel inspired by people like Rachmaninov, Chopin, Michael W. Smith and other nice pianists in their respective genres. But now it’s getting exciting! I did those competitions for the past two years, and now I have a job playing at a church. It’s been such a joy! Is it a lot of work? Yes, but that makes me appreciate the skills I build even more.
And acting? Oh, it’s just effortless, fun and never dull.
Me, as Josephine March in 2008
The tough part with choosing acting is, there are not a lot of opportunities to do it in the area I am at. But somehow God will make a way! I’ve played tons of different roles, and they’re always so different and fun. I’ve played Josephine March from Little Women, various characters from the book The Phantom Tollbooth, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz… The list goes on a bit. When you’re an actress, it’s like you have multiple personality disorder, but enjoy it. A lot! (You can quote me on that.)
And I don’t need to explain my love of writing! I love to tell stories, I love to write stories, I love to hear stories. Truth, fiction, in a book, in a magazine… It doesn’t matter. As long as it requires a good imagination, I’m there! I wrote my first story at the age of 4 and never came back from that place called “Creativity” ever since. Maybe I’ll share my first dabbling in writing with you someday.
And this all sounds fine and dandy, having an imagination the size of jupiter and a sixth sense for adventure… But oh, can it be done? Can it be successful? Can you do it without starving in a bad economy that’s already taxing its artists? People have told me “Oh, that’s nice, Annette… Playing piano, acting, writing… But you do realize you’d be broke! You need a back up job.”
Let me tell you something about crazy artists. They can’t have a backup job. You can’t separate a wild imagination and a passion for the arts from every day life. You can’t turn off ideas and ambition when you get up and go to work at the office all day staring at a fabricated gray cubicle and a computer screen. You can’t just ignore those ideas for the next big story, concerto or performance… Or that groundbreaking idea that can change your life could be gone forever and forgotten!
And so, there you go… Again I ask, can it be done? Good question. You and I are both going to find out in the years to come.
Oh, and a side note. I updated my About page a little bit.