June 21, 2025

perhaps this
decision paralysis
is why i’ve said yes
to being part of things —
ensemble
background
rather than leading
because others can actually take an active role
while i am overwhelmed at even the potentiality of a leadership anything

and i can follow
not because i am a follower
but because following action
is the action i’ve allowed myself, somehow, to actually do

my default state is action

it is the frozen with too many choices
that has become my leadership achilles heel

and in order to heal
i need[ed] to take a step
backwards

so that i may indeed
lead forward
again
soon

June 20, 2025

uncertainty
in what to write
in what to do
at any given moment
day
or night

the uncertainty
is what freezes me

not potential good
or bad outcomes
but all the options
showing themselves to me
beat
by beat
by beat
until
the overwhelm becomes too much
that inaction is the safest path to take

[but it actually
never really
is]

January 21, 2022

what’s it like
to know what you want
day to day?
week to week?
year to year?
life to life?
[i wonder
and ponder
my own life through)

or

what’s it like
to see so few choices
that the choice seems
obvious
to you?

decision paralysis
is a subject
i’ve written abut before
(and thought/think about
damn near daily)
and yet
the subject
never seems
‘done’
to me.

(but maybe
it’s a combination
of regular decision paralysis
and the big choices i’m stuck on
that bleed into the littler ones:
my indecision
about my own career
(minus the big reasons i’ve chosen acting,
which is also a way to feed the paralysis;
acting has in it
the opportunity
to be
every career
with
every character),
but within that big choice
i get stuck on
what i want to wear
day to day
or what music
i’d like
to listen to…
but/because there are other things
i know
i like
and want:
i love all animals,
and rainbow is my favorite color,
and kindness i hold above all,
and coffee is the best drink (besides water),
i’m always in the mood for
bagels, indian food, or ice cream,
and i know i need balance in my day-to-day choices:
too much of socialization
will lead to needing a lot of alone time to re-charge,
and similarly,
too much solitary time on my own
and i begin to fall apart)

so, what is the conclusion,
or even the thesis,
of this poem?

is it simply that i can continue to be freaked out
by decisions
and the paralyses they induce,
but i should also admit
the duality
of the human spirit
and that i know what i want
far more than my paralysis shows?

or is it simply
to make a strong choice
and stick with it
(the lessons learned in improv class
so long ago)?

June 24, 2021

those who
decide to
or decide not to
have actually made a decision

those of us who
stay in the middle
are doomed to
stay in the middle

~~~

it’s always interesting
to be clued into
another family’s drama.

i’ve only ever been privy
to a few sets of families
but whenever it happens
i feel like an uninvited audience member
to a preview
where the actors aren’t ready
and break character
more than they stay in

and no matter how much i try to tell myself
they’ve invited me here
i’m a part of the family now
i’ve married in
legally
i’m in

i still can’t help
but feel as though
i’m
intruding.

~~~

now i’m becoming worried
of writing too much
of being too real
too honest
for this little experimental experiment blog

when
when
when
did i switch from feeling too fake
and too impersonal
and wanting to be more honest?

[is it just the subject matter i’m worried about???]