Have you ever been so close to something

that you got singed by its fire? 

Not a physical fire,

a passion for life

for love...

for justice...

for any number or things that make up what we so ingloriously define as "passion". 

I have that fire. 

I cultivate it, and bring to life all the hues and bold colors that leap within it every time I take the stage.

Not just when I take the stage, 

but when I light it for others, 

when I build something for them to stand on, to make their world a more colorful place.

Building others up is how I built who I am. 

Years of being pushed down and told my opinions were worth next to nothing made me realize

I am not worthless. Not really. 

When the words spring unbidden from the lips of someone I thought I could trust, 

I realize that it isn't me.

It isn't them.

It's their fire burning low.

When the inglorious passion burns low, the potentional and the ability that person has dwindles. 

Like a fire left with no fuel. 

No joy, no reason to spark and bring back the bright flame. 

And that is why I am who I am. 

My spark, my joy, my love, my passions, 

all come from a place of helping others find their own sparks. 

My sparks come from theatre, from teaching,

from a love of langauge and culture altogether different from my own...

...and from a love of seeing sparks of the fire of another who has found their inglorious passion.