Year 1, Day 1

      Life. It's never as simple as it seems, and at the same time, it's just as simple as it seems. You work hard in school so you can go to a good college. Once you are there, you find a major that you intend follow through to graduation. Then you are supposed to get a job based on that major, or you may continue with you eduction by going to graduate school. But what happens when you jump off the train tracks? What happens when that Ivy League education may have been a waste? By the end, your majors seemed unappealing; you have no desire to work in those fields. So, rather than continue on in something that will make you at the worst, miserable, and at the best, bored, you decide to jump off the tracks.

      Diving into life post-college is traumatic enough having a life plan in place. The idea of leaving college without any direction causes pangs of nausea induced by fear every time it enters your mind. Now, you live at home and begin to meander into the real world, with trepidation, trying your hand at as many things as you can with the desperate hope that you will find that thing that will drive and inspire you.

      It's funny that I'm choosing to write a blog. I hate blogs. I am no part of the blogging community. And yet, something about the process seems very appealing to me at this stage of my life. I feel the need to chronicle my ludicrous, failed, boring, and incredible attempts to find that thing that I want to do with my life. I titled this blog "Guitars and Flips: Life, Year 1" because this really feels like the first year of my real life as an...oh God, I don't want to say it...adult. I am currently a musician and an actor, but I try my hand at anything that comes my way. I work two days a week as a gymnastics coach in New Jersey, near my parents' house. I also teach theater to public school children in an afterschool program in Manhattan, right near my parents' brand new apartment. I also intern at Serious Business Records in SoHo. I recently worked in various capacities on an Off-Broadway play, which is why Ethan Hawke recognizes my face (he directed the show in the theater above mine). My band, Baker St, has a few shows every month around New York City. Clearly, my life is as piecemeal and varied as a Kandinsky painting. This is why I need to write down all the things that happen in this time. This is potentially the prime of my life. I am twenty-two, single, have minimal expenses, and live in Manhattan! The world is my oyster!

      Which is exactly the problem. I went to an incredible college, have supportive parents and lots of talents. What do I pick and how long will it take me to regret what I've picked? I have always thought too much and now I have the time to really let my brain spin out of control. There are too many potential paths! Too many options I may pass up that would be better! I like too many things to settle down into one career. How can I possibly find my way with all of this clutter in my brain?

      To end on a lighter note, this year, while stressful and depressing at times, has actually been incredible thus far; and I am sure I will miss all this free time when it is gone. I get to focus my life on music, acting, singing, athletics, dance, LSAT books, and most importantly, my friends and family. I see friends, go out, meet new people, and just have an awesome time. All I can do is try many things and see what sticks. With any luck, I will find something that eventually sticks. So here's to my life, year 1; and here's to you, the imaginary people who are not reading these words!