Following Your Heart’s Desire - Without Apology

It’s time to get out of the wide shot and into the extreme close up of your life and your goals. Students in class have heard me talk often about “doing the quiet work”. There’s a quiet kind of rebellion in choosing to follow what you truly want. Not the goals you think you should have. Not the career path your parents or your peers approve of. Not the image your industry tells you is “marketable.” But the thing that pulls at you in the middle of the night - the thing you’d chase even if nobody clapped for you when you got there.

The trouble is, we live in a world that measures worth by productivity, status, and how well you fit into an existing mold. In the arts especially, it’s easy to believe that success only counts if it looks a certain way - the Broadway contract, the major award, the agent’s stamp of approval. But these are someone else’s benchmarks. If you’re not careful, you can spend years sprinting toward a life that feels hollow when you arrive. Trust me, I experienced this in my early 30’s after working very consistently and successfully but ended up depressed and feeling hollow because i was doing what I thought I should or what would be impressive instead of asking what I sincerely, genuinely, honestly want. Don’t worry, 13 years of psychotherapy has helped me manage life quite well now - mostly ;)  

Following your heart’s desire doesn’t require you to know every step in advance. It’s not about reckless leaps or blind faith; it’s about agency. It’s about looking at the countless paths in front of you and having the courage to say, “That one’s mine.” The world may not understand it. They may tell you it’s impractical, or that you’re throwing away potential. But their definition of potential is theirs to carry - not yours.

Sometimes, what you want will make sense on paper. Other times, it won’t. Sometimes it will mean more money and recognition; sometimes it will mean less. The measure of whether it’s “worth it” isn’t in the applause or the paycheck, generally speaking,  it’s in whether you can look yourself in the mirror and say, “I am living my life, not someone else’s version of it.”

Try not to let the fear of the unknown get the better of you. ‘Collaboration is key’, once you figure out what YOU want, collaborate with others to make it happen on your terms. 

Keep up the great work.

M :)

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