kate’s blog

hey y’all. just wanted to sit down and write a little bit, with nothing in particular of importance to say. i’ve been thinking a lot about the lives of olympic athletes, as i enjoy as much of the event-airings as i can. it is crazy to think that in some of these sports, the olympic competitors~presumably the best in the world at what they do~are so young. i cannot imagine being The Very Best in the World at one particular thing~at ANY age, let alone as a teenager. what must that do to a life? imagine reaching your peak at 16. what happens then?

maybe they handle the pressure well… or maybe they go all tanya harding before the decision is even made about their ranking because they are so desperate for that golden ring. i guess in some situations it leads to a dana plato (death) or gary coleman (unimaginable decline) type thing.

when your entire life has revolved around this one thing…. and then it’s over; either because you reach the pinnacle, or because you age out and are forced into retirement…. hey….. wait a minute…. this isn’t so different from acting.

hmm.

okay, let me think “out loud” about this. basically, my life is built around achieving this dream of mine: to have a successful acting career. now, even though “success” to me doesn’t mean i have to be The Very Best in the World, it still indicates a certain level which i am determined to reach. my income (and thus my lifestyle), my geographical location, my thoughts on having a family~all of these things and others are dictated (or at least influenced) by this pursuit. and what will happen to me if i never reach my goal? if i reach it and then fall out of favor? if i can’t handle the pressure of whatever comes with success in this field?

i know myself, and i know my people. i am certain i will be fine dealing with whatever comes my way in the wake of success. so i know that success will be okay for me in the long run. on the other hand, what if i somehow don’t succeed at this? after 10 years…actually, probably more….of building my life around this one goal, this one dream…. where would i go? what would i do? i cannot even think of another field of work that would “complete me” the way this does. i could do a lot of things, i was blessed with an agile mind. but want to do? love to do? be willing to sacrifice for? i just don’t know.

i guess the only real answer is this: i must succeed. my life depends on it. my joy and passion and faith are all wrapped up in it. and i am blessed with people in my life who understand and support all of that. so. i am well-equipped, i train hard, i have a support system, and i am ready to go out and give the performance of my life. ready to hit the podium and accept my medal.

watch this.

it’s such an amazing time right now. i don’t know about everyone else out there, but i am so thrilled deep in my gut to have obama inaugurated tomorrow. this is a time when i truly feel that change is possible and our country may be able to find its way back to being the amazing and inspiring place that it once was. and once was before my time, personally, so it will be a first for me. all of the poignancy too of having a black man inaugurated the day after MLK day is just an extra pulse of meaning, and i am feeling proud of our country and its people for the first time in my life. i cannot wait to watch barack take his oath of office and begin his work. i know that this is a time in the history of our country and in the history of my life that i want to remember and keep close to my heart. i’m the girl who walked out on her class when the desert storm campaign was launched and it was all the teachers wanted us to talk about. i’m the one who has campaigned pro-choice and pro-women. and i’m one of few people i know who has kept myself informed and voting every year and encouraging the vote in everyone else. and this time around everything and everyone mattered. we all stepped up to the plate and made history HAPPEN. we made change COME. and we are about to start a new era of the united states history. i, for one, am ecstatic.

…apparently SAG is demanding a retraction cuz there has not yet been a doug-allen-ousting vote.

hope that doesn’t mean there *won’t* be one…. sigh.

so excited to hear that DOUG ALLEN has been officially OUSTED, and the chances of our SAG strike authorization vote happening at all are close to nil.

thank goodness!

let’s all get to work, and get our union butts in gear over the next 2 years so we can work TOGETHER with the other unions (what a concept) for a better deal for everyone next time around, without needing to go to extremes!