The fall after finishing my undergrad, I worked for a children’s theatre in Columbus, Ohio. It was a magical year. I learned so much about myself as an artist and I think the lessons I learned there still inform the work I do with young audiences today. While I was there, I would tell these stories of my life growing up. The artistic director of the theatre loved my stories and told me I needed to take all of these wonderful stories and make a show! For the next four years, I told anyone who would listen that I have this great idea for a show – but I never… read more →
One of my favorite books to read to my son is I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont with wonderful illustrations by David Catrow. It was given to us by my Aunt Carol and really celebrates the idea of accepting ourselves for who we are. The exuberance the young girl the book uses to express that, no matter what, she is truly happy to be who she is and there is no one else she’d rather be, transcends into a universality of self-acceptance. I am often asked after performances or presentations if I ever wonder or wish what it would be like to have both my hands. I always tell the… read more →
I am a new father and, like most new fathers, I am a proud papa! I love watching my son take in this world. He is just about to make the transition from crawling to walking. He is so close! It’s been fascinating watching him calculate his next move, to figure out how many steps from the rocking chair to the couch. He has always been curious; I am sure all children are curious but it has revived in me a sense of my own curiosity. I’ve been thinking, “how much have I really challenged myself lately?” To be fair, there has been little sleep over the last thirteen months… read more →
I tell this story during my keynote about how my greatest anxiety is shaking hands. Most people do not realize I am missing my right hand and so it is inevitable they will stick out their right hand to shake. I have this choice: I could put out my right hand to shake but I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable, so I extend my left hand instead, which makes us both feel uncomfortable. You have this split second thought, “why did he just stick out his left hand – oh my God, I feel like a nincompoop.” And I have the split second thought, “oh no, I just made… read more →
The first day of school always started the same for me. “Abner Harrell” the teacher would say. (Even though I made sure to get to class early and request they use my middle name, David, when they called attendance). Every year it was the same story, all the way through high school. The first day of school would remind this guy, Chris Reed, of my first name and I’d spend the next two weeks relentlessly getting “Abner” cat calls. He’d soon forget about it and I’d go back to being “David” for the rest of the year. I did not like my name very much. I wondered why my father… read more →
A few months ago I performed a portion of my solo play A Little Potato and Hard to Peel for a morning assembly at a high school in Nashville, TN. I had to cut the show to 25 minutes and felt good about the cutting and thought it had gone well with the audience. It was a tough audience; a high school in a morning assembly is never the easiest audience, but they were with me. They were laughing and I felt a good energy. The assembly ended and the kids were shuffling out for the remainder of their day. I started to put away my props. “Excuse me sir,… read more →
I saw a story on PBS last week about a young man who was born without his right hand, very similar to me, who is hoping to be the first human to receive a full hand transplant. You can read the story here. I felt for this young man, his insecurity and frustration in having to adapt to do daily tasks was completely recognizable. I began to think, what if this surgery wasn’t difficult? What if it was a little out patient shindig with little to no complications? Would I want it? Would my 12-year-old-middle-school self want it? I don’t want it and I would tell my 12-year-old self he… read more →