Oh the Places Being a Mom Will Take me...Or How I Wound Up On Stage With Joseph Gordon-Levitt

It never ceases to amaze me the ways that motherhood has changed my life. I feel like I am still myself and yet the mother part of me has been incorporated into the old me to create this new person. Last night all the different parts of me came together for a wonderful few moments.

For those of you who know me well, you know that I spent my high school and college years acting and that I continued for a few years after graduation. In 2007, I decided to switch gears and get my masters and I pushed a lot of my creative energy down to make room for a more pragmatic lifestyle. I love being a social worker but I have definitely felt something missing over the years. To that end, I have continued writing in my spare time, and blogging was the first way I found to connect to something and to fill the void that acting has left behind. Then, about a month ago, I discovered hitrecord.org.

Hitrecord is an online artists collaborative founded by Joseph Gordon-Levitt that allows creative spirits of all kinds to connect and make bigger and better art together. Writers post stories that can then be illustrated; illustrators post drawings and musicians write songs about them. It is an amazing way for people all over the world to find other like-minded artists and work together. It has been a haven for me since I found it. I spend hours on the site, finding illustrations to write about and being inspired by the amazing talent of this community.

So when I discovered that Joe (as JGL is known in this world) was taking the show on the road AND that one of the stops was Philadelphia AND that it was a night that Scott was on vacation, I decided all signs were pointing to me buying us tickets.  And so I did. But, I didn't really know what the live show would entail and so I bought us tickets waaaay up in the second balcony of the Kimmel Center's Merriam Theater. I learned as the day got closer from other artists in the community that it's a very interactive show and that being in the orchestra makes it much easier to be involved. Oh well, I thought. I just want to see the magic live.

When we arrived at the theater, the pre-show screen was asking questions pertaining to the night's theme of "the road." One such question asked audience members to tweet responses to what kinds of non-asphalt roads/paths they've traveled down. I decided to do as they asked and tweeted the following "@tqbarbash: On a sometimes bumpy road w amazing twists and turns and incredible views and stops along the way. I call it motherhood #hitrecordontheroad" And then I thought nothing of it.

When the show started, Joe came out to lots of fanfare and screaming. As soon as the show began, he said that what he wanted to do tonight was talk about the road. "In fact someone was just writing something that I like, that I want to talk to this person, named tqbarbash. Are you here?" I was pretty sure that being all the way up where I was he was just going to tell me to forget it, but he didn't. He said "well let's go, hustle down here, I want to talk to you" And then I joined him on stage and spent 3 minutes or so talking to a crowd of nearly 1900 people about motherhood and the way the road shifts and your destination changes but it's totally awesome. He was lovely and genuine and I am honored that he took the time to talk about the journey of being a mom.

Here is the piece I posted on the site about the experience: Motherhood - On The Road

And here is a youtube link of the clip (he calls me down around 2:25, and then I actually get to the stage around 4:45) The audio isn't great and the person who filmed it had the camera sideways for some reason, but for now this is the only version I have. TQB and JGL

UPDATE*** Here is a much better video TQB and JGL 2

Enjoy!
xo, tqb