It was all a̶ ̶d̶r̶e̶a̶m̶ TRUE
“Michael, Jr. sometimes you act like you’re in your own world.” Those were my father’s words during one of his lectures. I don’t remember what I said or had done that time. What can I say there were so many of those times as I was growing into myself. Yes, I lived in my own world sometimes. I am the baby boy of four. Growing up my two older sisters had a sister bond that didn’t include me. Rightfully so. My older brother lived with his mother in Houston, Texas. So I’d see him occasionally when we returned home for summers in Texas. I would play for hours in my room creating characters, writing stories, poems, songs, reading books, and acting out for anyone who would give me a chance. I was headstrong in asking to audition for the theater program at the local performing arts school . I was self assured, confident and a bit cocky that the world was going to open up for me. I told my mother and sister this was my destiny! I was born for this!
Somewhere along the way they slowly chipped away at my inner child. I can’t pinpoint an exact moment when I stopped living in my imaginary world and became a realist. There are a few pivotal moments involving church, sexuality, heartbreak, and that shaped my childhood. My dreams of cutting up and sewing clothes to create my own fashions, being on stage as an actor, dancer, or a singer (that dream deserved to die with my caterwauling 😂), being Babyface on the keys and songwriting. I was bursting at the seams with dreams. I was determined and focused to bring them to life.
2023 has been a return to being imaginative & daring to dream BIG. Being back on stage earlier this year especially after being unable to with the pandemic lockdown will forever be one of the greatest memories. I’ll write about that experience soon. One of my dreams as a kid was to visit the rainforest and be one with the animals. So this birthday, on a whim, I listened to the excited kid in me and booked a flight to Rio de Janeiro.
The rainforest tour was originally scheduled for August 26, my official birthday, but due to bad weather. Alvaro offered to reschedule Monday the 28th when the weather looked better for a modified hike. Honestly I was so tied to the idea of this happening on my birthday to be extra special that it took awhile for me to agree to the modified date. My inner voice was like well fuck it, roll with the punches, Mike. Besides, this trip was too damn expensive. During the tour, I met the sweetest energetic little person wearing a Matilda Jr. shirt that signaled she was a young actor. She was vocal about her acting journey playing in Elf Jr. and Pinocchio. Every few moments she asked the tour guide a question about what she was saying. Her attention to detail made me stop a few times and ask how did I miss so much beauty all around us? I never want her to lose that energy and that passion for the arts. From the mouth of the babes! The childlike wonderment intrigued me for her to be so excited and full of life about everything. Here I was being a jaded and privileged grown up throwing a fit when the goal was to get back to that childlike imaginative state. No, the original dream of waterfall swimming and running naked through the forest didn’t happen. What I got leaving Tijuca National Park was sweeter. There’s so much I can say so I’ll revisit this, maybe proofread and all that. Sorry for all the grammatical errors. The journalist in me is screaming. The child inside of me is inspired.
It was all a dream that came true.
