“One Brave Thing a Day.”

This simple phrase has had the most beautiful power over me ever since I could remember.

From a young age, my brain has felt like a warzone. There wasn’t a moment in which I wasn’t constantly swimming in doubtful thoughts or overthinking every move I made. My mom noticed I was much more anxious than any other kid my age, and then her mom, my Nani, said to me, “Just try to do one brave thing a day.”

I was unwillingly put into my community theatre program when I was eight years old. My parents had heard that getting out of my shell could be extremely helpful for trying to find a solution to my constant nervousness. I had to tuck my hair under a baseball cap and pretend to be a little boy in front of a crowd of 100, and I somehow ended up loving every minute of it. I found comfort in the ability to escape, the ability to step into someone else’s life. Both my mom and dad could not believe their eyes. Seeing their daughter, who would have panic attacks while trying to order at a restaurant, up on stage singing a solo was earth shattering to them. 

I can not imagine what my life would look like now if my parents didn’t push me to do this one brave thing that day.

Sometimes I feel as if I’m going through my own life as an observer, thinking about what would happen if I would’ve said one thing instead of another, or raised my hand when I should’ve, or what people walking down the street think of me, or if it’s better to lay everything out on the line or never say anything at all. I was born an overthinker and a worrier, I have never found a clear way out of this. 

However, I believe that the greatest art can come from when your mind is drowning in too many thoughts. 

It took some time to be able to have courage up on stage, but once I found it, I felt more powerful than I ever had before. This work is so important. Fully immersing myself in someone else’s perspective and their story became my safe place. 

Just remember “One brave thing a day.”

Growing up around theatre has allowed me to form the firm belief that your life can change in two ways: experience, and experiencing someone else’s experience. Because of this, I wish to be a part of creating art that has people walking away not being able to get it off their minds. I want to be a part of changing people’s minds. I want audience members to realize how important they are as observers, and for them to have questions and conflicting opinions when they walk away. This can be a scary approach to creating art. It goes back to the old question, “Why are we creating this art in the first place?” “If people do not like it, does that mean we failed?”

“One brave thing a day.”

This work is vulnerable, scary, sometimes you do not find the reward you are losing yourself over. However, I want to change minds, change perspectives. Theatre is all about the human experience, and it is a true statement that we do not always agree with whatever it is the world is handing us. To me, theatre is not about how praised it is, it is about how this story we are telling can change lives. It’s about the conversations we can have that will last for hours, this is how we find connection, community, and growth.

We lost my Nani many years ago, but the words she said to me still allow me to feel found. 

These words helped me find my ultimate passion in life. 

So next time you’re doubting yourself, your work, your worth, or all of these all at once, just remember:

“One brave thing a day.”

-Maya Buffomante