My First Year As An Angeleno

When I was a kid nothing was more important to me than being an actor and living the rest of my life in some sort of Woody Allen/Spike Lee/Seinfeld-esque utopian world in New York.  There was no other option but this place.  It was in my blood.  It was where my parents grew up and fell in love.  It was where their parents grew up and fell in love.  Pizza, Bagels and Chinese Food (especially on Sundays) were as essential as air and water.  My ears were fed Simon & Garfunkel and Billy Joel and Broadway Showtunes.  Every 22 minutes 1010 Wins gave me the world.  Trips to see my Grandparents were like looking through telescopes aimed at a history class scored by George Gershwin.  New York was in my blood.  It was the setting for my rollercoaster college experience.  The Triboro Bridge (I will always call it that) was the backdrop when I first kissed the first love of my life. I called Mid-Town and The Upper East Side and Astoria home for so many years.  I spent sweaty nights dancing in unairconditioned apartments. I drank in dimly-lit bars.  I cheered for my heroes at Madison Square Garden and Yankee Stadium.  I wandered the streets on weekends, sometimes walking past miles and miles of stores and markets and subway stations and parks.  My young idea of a life had gone completely as planned.  And it was beautiful.

But one day my fire died…and you must never EVER let your fire die. 

So I did what I always said I would NEVER do…I moved to Los Angeles.  I traded in crowded subway cars for a Honda Accord.  I left behind Pizza and General Tso’s for Burritos and Fish Tacos.  This, the place that Woody Allen and Sex In The City always warned would be the end of me.  And the thing is…it was.  It was the end of me being:

• lazy
• anxiety-ridden
• negative
• angry
• bitter
• creatively blocked
• spiritually unmotivated
• unhappy
• out of shape
• ungiving
• insecure
• stuck in the past
• worrisome

The list could continue…but it doesn’t have to because all of these things are connected to one another.  

The point is that the life that we had planned for ourselves as youngsters isn’t always going to be the right journey for us.  It takes self-awareness and maturity to accept this idea.  I moved to Los Angeles, the forbidden place, exactly one year ago…and it has been the single most rewarding year of my adult life.  

I thank the Universe for being so kind to me and I promise to give even more kindness back.  Even if the pizza here sucks.

Love,

D.F.