I just read the Pick Your Hard article, and I must say, you are as inspiring as ever. I was just back in NY for my younger sister’s wedding (which was a blast), and saw ALL of my family and some friends, and I realized just how much I am missing. I missed being there the night my sister got engaged; I missed helping my parents and grandparents as my grandmother went through (and hopefully successfully defeated) cancer; I missed watching all of my older cousins’ kids grow up and getting to know them.

It was probably the toughest trip home I’ve had in some time — not because anyone was pressuring me to come back to NY (far from it, actually! Most of my family is pretty supportive and are proud of what I am doing), but because I love them and sometimes wish I was back there.

I’m in a pretty great place in my life right now. I have a beautiful, amazing, and incredibly talented wife, I have a wonderful survival job that I love, I’m directing my first Straitjacket Society show, I’m pushing my voiceover career forward, and I am overall pretty happy. But I would never have had all of these wonderful things, had I not “picked my hard” and moved out here to pursue a career in the arts.

Lord knows, I could have had a very steady, lucrative (and unbelievably boring) career as an accountant, and I may have met someone back in NY who was right for me. Maybe. I certainly would have had my family nearby. But as anyone who knew me back then could tell you, I was not a happy individual.

Yes, putting yourself out there is tough. Dating can be hell; it’s scary to send your demo out to an agent (especially at risk of getting rejected, or worse, not hearing anything back); directing a show is no easy task (to say the least); going on interviews and responding to the infernal, yet always present, statement: “So, tell me about yourself” just plain sucks, but all of these “hard” things can lead you to a happier, if not better, place.

The road of life is long and bumpy. But you’re right: “It’s all hard. The only thing harder is not pursuing your dream.” I’m just glad I have people like you to remind me that the road, though hard, is the one I want. The one I picked. My dream.