Why I Love Sundance

I love Sundance (the film festival, although I do also have fond feelings for the resort).

I try to convince myself it has less to be with being starstruck and more to do with being in an environment, as pretentious as it may sound, where there is this undeniable emphasis on creating things. I love Utah. I do it is beautiful and it is my home, but Sundance provides a bit of needed escapism. Truth be told, I have only been up to the festival twice in my entire life and only for a handful of hours each time, but being surrounded by people who took risks and work hard to produce something that they can be excited about and proud of.

It is nice to be slapped in the face by your dreams deferred (thank you, Langston Hughes) because when you are lamenting all that you haven’t pursued you have to ask yourself, “What are you going to do about it?” And this whole week I have been enthused about recommitting myself to writing and have been drafting a stand-up routine in my head (I refuse to be held back by the fact that I am not exceptionally funny.) Cheesy phrases like “the greatest risk yields the greatest reward” and “let the beauty you love be what you do” are inspiring the crap out of me. Hopefully, the slight sting of my mild dissatisfaction with my current pursuits helps to propel me to a place I want to be.

That’s why I love Sundance.