The Show, and Life, Must Go On!

I know it has been a while, but you will all find out why in my upcoming posts. This blog is different from my other blogs. I can't say anything about it specifically except you will just have to read on to find out more. Anyway...

When I was about four years old my mother and my birth father (my step dad recently adopted me) divorced. I barely saw my birth father while I was growing up. I generally spent time with my mother and my maternal grandmother. My maternal grandma and I share a birthday, so we have a special bond. Something my grandmother did for me was help me choose who I wanted to be when I grew up. Yes at four years old I already knew. I wanted to be Lucille Ball! If you don't know who she is look her up because you should. I saw Lucy do the Vitameatavegamin skit on her show I Love Lucy. It was then I knew that I wanted to do that, make people laugh. At the time I was too young to understand, but I began using media and the arts as an escape. I continue to do this to this day, and so do others. 
I have always adored my mother and admired her greatly. When I was little I would desperately miss her. I understand now it was all for me, but then I didn't. My grandma would do anything I wanted to do with me. She would draw and color, but mostly we would watch television. The shows we watched were the ones on when she and my mom were kids. Shows like I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched would fuel my imagination. I would fold my arms and blink my eyes while pretending I was Jeannie, or try to twitch my nose (which I have become quite good at) and pretend to be Samantha (from the later of the shows). Sometimes we would watch Scooby Doo and I would wonder around my grandparents house solving a mystery.
With my mom we would watch Disney movies together. My favorite, and still favorite, was Beauty and the Beast. I would sit mesmerized for hours watching that movie. That movie also happened to be the first one I saw in theatres. My mom and birth father were still married and they took me to a movie theatre where Beauty and the Beast was playing. I don't remember that because I was so young, but I know that ever since I have loved that film.
Like I stated in my other blogs music has really helped me though difficult times in my life. As an actress/singer/musician/songwriter the arts has become a catharsis for me. I pour my heart and soul out into my lyrics. I write about real life experiences. In voice lessons I use my real life as a way to connect to a song I didn't write, and the same can be said for acting. Art has helped so many people escape their lives. For a moment whether it's a three minute song, a half hour to an hour show, or an hour and a half movie we can escape. We don't think about bills, making enough money, family issues, health issues, the economy, politics, or religion. We are able to escape into a fictional world that helps us cope with daily life. People have said that a certain experience is the hardest thing they will ever experience in life. That's not entirely true. Life is the hardest thing we will ever experience. Since theatre has helped me so much in my life that is why I am passionate about it. That is why I am trying to raise money to help maintain a local theatre. The Canton Palace Theatre has been around for nearly a century doing for others what Lucille Ball and Walt Disney did for me. It allows them to escape and dream. My story is about a little girl sitting with her grandmother, allowing a stranger to take her away from her troubles, to sit, laugh, and dream.
If you would like to learn more about The Canton Palace and donate money like my groups Facebook page Help Maintain The Canton Palace Theatre. On the page is the link to the theatre's official website and to our rally.org website where my group from my persuasion class is raising money. The show must go on!

Keep Livin'
Kayla Dawn

My Medical Disorder Is Cosmetic?

TMJ, or Temporomandibular joint disorder, involves problems with the chewing muscles and joints in the lower jaw. The pain can be caused by grinding of the teeth and a bad bite. I honestly didn't know I had TMJ until a few years ago, or I forgot about it. Trust me I have a bad memory. Because of my TMJ I have difficulty chewing certain foods. Tough meat is especially difficult for me to chew. I'm a singer and sometimes while I am singing my jaw locks. If that happens I usually have to work it out if I have a few measures, or I have to stop to work it out and start where I left off. When I'm acting sometimes my jaw locks, but then I can take a dramatic or comedic pause. TMJ is incredibly painful for me at times, especially in the winter. I have noticed this winter that the pain is more intense than in the summer. Also, I read online that TMJ is associated with fibromyalgia, which I also have. I don't know if that's true because not a lot is know about the causes of fibromyalgia, but almost everything I have I have read is associated with it. Obviously I don't know for sure. I am just going by what I read. My orthodontist gave me exercises that work a little, but he really wants me to get a mouth guard for night time. The problem is that even though the guard is for a medical problem, the insurence will not pay for it because they claim it's cosmetic. No one in my dentists office seems to agree. I don't understand how something that is to help improve or cure a proven medical problem is seen as cosmetic. Teeth whitening, braces, or retainers I can see as cosmetic. I don't see how TMJ is. I am a full time college student working part time, so I can't pay for the mouth guard. If the insurence won't cover it then I can't get it. I don't know what other options I have, but if I have to pay for them I can't get them or have them done. I'm not suprised that an insurence company calls a medical problem cosmetic. Too bad they're wrong like always. Oh, well it's not like it's going to kill me. Unless it gets to a point where I can't eat anything. If that happens I can always blend my food. YUCK!

Keep Livin'

Kayla Dawn

here's a link with information about TMJ http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001227.htm