When I was little, I told my family I wanted to be a waitress when I grew up. I think this was because the waitress at Friendly’s was nice to me and it seemed like it would be good to bring people things that made them happy. I don’t know how long this idea lasted. I forgot it – it got relegated to a funny childhood story.
Sure, in some ways, my life would have been easier if I’d remembered that particular debt to my childhood desire. If I’d just stuck with the idea of waitressing as a career, I could have saved myself a lot of heartbreak and a LOT of student loans.
But – it was necessary to forget that promise to myself.
Likewise, the one in which I declared I would never move to New York City, that I’d make my living for always and forever in the trenches of regional theatre. It’s good I forgot that promise.
I can’t remember any other promises that I made to myself that I forgot – probably because I forgot them. And that is necessary for growth and progress.
The Hamlet Project 