Exhausted in a Good Way

  I am exhausted. Not in a bad way though, if that makes sense. It's not a terrible kind of exhaustion. This is the exhaustion of accomplishment.

 Tonight was the first dress rehearsal for Rabbit Hole meaning that we got to mix all of the lights, sound and dialogue with our costumes. This is my favorite part of the rehearsal process, because after months of rehearsing dialogue, blocking and learning how to get to place I need to be emotionally, it's always fun to bring in the technical side of the show.
  A certain dynamic comes into play when the lights and sound enter the picture. It's that final missing puzzle piece that brings the show together. Then you bring the costumes in and oh boy...it's go time!
  When I slipped on my blue jeans, turquoise polo and my white cardigan, I took a second to look at myself. For the first time since this whole process started, I was able to look at myself in the mirror and confidently say, "I am Jason Willette." This confidence followed me out of the dressing room and into the Studio Theater. Oh man, the feeling I felt walking through that door and onto the set was unlike anything I had ever felt. I was incredibly dropped into the scene. Everything the other characters said hit with me and triggered my honest response. I wasn't worrying about anyone else in the room, how I was delivering lines or what I was doing with my hands. I finally was able to let the notes go and fall in to the character I had created. I wasn't doing it for the director, I was doing it for me.
 This took me to a different realm of the world I had been living in in the play emotionally, and it's because of that that I am completely exhausted. Not in a bad way though. I'm exhausted in the best way possible. And that is the most rewarding feeling of all.