…Ok. A new purpose sounds a little pretentious, I’ll admit. I’m not going to go on a political rant. I’ll just speak vaguely about my own experiences and let you take from it what you will.

November 9th was a dark day for me, for many. I went to sleep feeling hopeless and like my life had been high-jacked. I no longer was sure that ‘good would always win out in the end,’ and my life’s dream of a career as an actor seemed…trivial and unattainable. It felt like I had a responsibility as a decent human being to enter a fight I never had any desire to get into. I guess you could say I was asleep and content to be so. I’m a compassionate person. I care about my fellow man. I vote. I donate to defend those less fortunate and the planet. But all in all, I was content to leave the activism to someone else. I (more or less) trusted our basic system of government. I knew it wasn’t perfect but I had an innate sense that things would always balance out. The pendulum may swing in a direction that didn’t align with my beliefs or understanding of the world, but I always ‘knew’ that it would eventual swing back.

I woke up on November 10th, expecting to escape the nightmare I’d just had, only to find I was still very much in that nightmare and feeling like that pendulum had completely swung off its axis into the dark abyss. I felt like I had no choice but to join the fray. It felt like such a huge and hopeless uphill climb.

So…I mourned. I lost all willpower to eat healthfully and exercise and proceeded to promptly gain 10 lbs. I gave myself permission to cry and eat and drink and I left the damn country for 10 days.

But now…it’s time to get to work. No one chooses something like this. But here it is. So what can an actor ‘living in a liberal bubble’ do?

I’m not sure…

I’m taking it one day at a time. I’m meditating. I’m surrounding myself with friends and people I trust. I’m taking at least one action a day and I’m NOT going back to sleep. I’m hoping this turns into making a project that inspires others to do the same. Because THAT’S what we can do: inspire people and speak out. Maybe we’ll change some minds, but what’s more likely is that our job will be to inspire those that feel hopeless and help lonely souls feel less lonely. So here we go. Let’s get to work…