…to take a winding or indirect course. That’s me, doing everything backwards and in heels. Instead of heading on a career path in my teens, I got married and raised a family and then decided it was time for my career. And not just any career, but one in the arts! There are days, like we all have, that I cry in despair “what was I thinking?” But here I am free for the first time to follow my dreams of being an actor and after auditioning like crazy finding the parts filled by others. Here’s where the “rest” in meandeREST comes into play. My voice teacher wisely reminded me that rests in music are blank moments that are completely necessary for the beautiful notes to be set apart. If we didn’t have these times of blankness, absence of sound, or in my case work, the beauty of the whole would be compromised. So I am going to embrace the rest, the empty measures and embark on a journey of discovery. An image of the quarter rest is on an orange sticky note in my car to keep me centered on the positive aspects of a blank slate rather than despair over the lack of casting directors’ phone calls. The rests are also a great time to breathe deep.