Optimism

It is our duty as men and women to proceed as though limits to our ability do not exist" - Teillhard dy Chardin

I am sometimes criticized for my optimism. I find this interesting because these same critics are, in their own way, optimistic. My entire life is about doing things that "realistic" people would have called impossible. I was born with a 75% hearing loss. I have never had 75% of my hearing. I don't know what it means to hear many sounds that others take for granted. One evening my wife and I were watching a documentary on whistling (we admit it, we are documentary junkies) and much of the show was lost on me. These whistlers were whistling at a frequency that I couldn't hear. My wife was fascinated by this. While she understands that there is much I don't hear, this was a visceral example of what my hearing was and was not.

I have met other people with similar degrees of hearing loss as I have. I am humbled by the fact that my mom was able to teach me to speak even before I was diagnosed with a loss. I am humbled by the fact that I don't have any audible deaf accent. I am humbled by the fact that I have lived my life doing things that many people with full hearing would find difficult, if not impossible.

I received my first pair of hearing aids when I was five. I was about to start Kindergarten and my parents were lucky enough to find a doctor who was willing to pass us on to a specialist who could confirm my hearing and fit me with aids. Amusingly, my mom was too successful. We had a great deal of difficulty convincing the medical community of my situation. I could speak well, I paid attention and I answered questions intelligently. "He'll grow out of it," was the prognosis.

I sing. When I was in Grade Six, I was invited to audition for my home city's All-School Choir. This was a choir that only the best of the city were allowed to join. I made it. I was cast as a First Soprano in the choir. Later, I went on to musical theatre and not only sang, but danced too!

I was bitten by the performer's bug. I loved the stage. I wanted to pursue more. I took acting classes and various mime, clowning, theatresports classes. I was admitted to the Grant MacEwan Theatre Academy, even though at 14 I was technically too young. I eventually was invited to audition for a TV show being co-produced by the CBC and a small theatre company called Catalyst Theatre. I won a principal role and was able to work with some wonderful professionals in the business. Our show went on to win a Special Jury Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival and then later, it won the CBC National Prix Anik Award.

I completed High School and decided to pursue musical theatre. I enrolled in the Theatre Arts programme at Grant MacEwan College. This experience gave me opportunities to study voice, dance, acting and work on professional level shows of all types. We produced works by a range of greats ranging from Bertolt Brecht and Eugene Ionesco to Leonard Bernstien and Frank Lerner and Frederick Lowe.

In the middle of my studies, I was cast in two roles during the summer season that would have a profound effect on my life. First was as a chorus member in "Alice in Concert" where I worked closely with the woman who would become my wife; though it took us a further 8 years to get that all worked out. The second was as Candide in Bernstein's "Candide." The musical version of Voltaire's tale of an innocent optimist who is beaten up by a cruel world. I had the pleasure of singing with one of the biggest vocal talents in the world, Iren Bartok. Her voice has illuminated many roles including, and perhaps most famously, Christine in London's production of Phantom of the Opera.

During my professional career as an actor, I had the opportunity to successfully live and work as an Equity Actor (union) for a variety of theatre companies in Ontario. I had an agent, and lived the Life of an Actor. What amazes me is that no one ever told me I couldn't. No one ever said, "don't bother with that, you are hard of hearing and you will just be disappointed when things don't work out."

There are more stories, but the you get the idea. My life has been all about doing things that more "realistic" people would have said no to. I can't help but be an optimist. So much of my life has been about doing optimistic things in an optimistic way. Poets and playwrights wax eternal about love and loss. Has there been loss in my life? You bet! It hasn't been a painless ride. There has been lots of hard work and frustration. Some pretty nasty failures. Those things sting. But that pain pales in comparison to the empowering uplifting and humbling experience of taking risks and succeeding.

OB