To me, acting is not just a hobby
It is not simply an extracurricular for my college resume
Nor is it a panicked excuse to get out of sports
A performing art to make up for my lack of ability in the visual variety
Or even (as my family may refer to it) A lousy career path that will inevitably leave me starved and homeless

No.
Acting is more than that
More than all of that

You see, acting is a tool
A tool that enables the apprehensive, the silent, and the doubtful
To find the courage which we all posses buried within us
As actors, we find this certainty for someone else
A fictional character in an illusory world
And then, by some sort of unexplainable magic
The very certainty and assurance that we have mustered for these characters
Who are nothing more than words on a page?
The figment of somebody else’s imagination
Those strengths
Become our very own

When some think of acting
They think of ferocity of the business
Cold eyed casting directors
Turning their noses up at bright eyed young ingénues
Not me

I think of acting at its true core
A beautiful and unique art form
That empowers and inspires
Acting is not cold
It is nurturing

I have seen it give its gift to countless before me
I feel it every moment I am performing
And I will watch it work its magic for countless after me