When I was 29, / I told myself / the next acting job I get / no matter what it pays, / I will from now on, / for better or worse, / be a working actor. // So I quit my position / at the Professional Examination Services. // My friends really weren't happy about that, / because it was so easy to find me when I worked there. // Work / – was the only place I had the internet. // This was at the beginning of the Internet. // And now / I didn't have / either the internet / or a cell phone / or a job. // But something good happened. // I got a low paying theater job / in a play called / Imperfect Love. // Which led to a film / called 13 Moons / with the same writer. // Which led to other roles. // Which led to other roles. // And I've worked as an actor / ever since. // But / I didn't know that would happen. // At 29, / walking away from data processing, / I was terrified. // Ten years in a place / without heat. // Six years at a job, / I felt stuck in. // Maybe I was afraid of change. // Are you? // My parents / didn't have much money. // But they struggled / to send me to the best schools. // And / one of the most important things they did for me / — and graduates, / maybe you don't want to hear this / – is that once I graduated, / I was on my own. // Financially, / it was my turn. // Parents / are applauding, / graduates / are not. // But this made me very hungry. // Literally. // I couldn't be lazy. // Now I'm totally lazy / but back then, / I couldn't be. // And so at 29, / in a very long last, / I was in the company of the actors and writers and directors / I'd start out that first year, / that first day / after school. // I was. / I am / by their sides. // Raise the rest of your life / to meet you. // Don't search for defining moments / because they will never come. // Well, the birth of your children, OK, / of course, / forget about it, that's just six months. // My life is forever changed, / that's the most defining moment ever. // But I'm talking about in the rest of your life / and most importantly / in your work. // The moments that define you / have already happened. // And they will already happen again. // And it passes / so quickly. // So please / bring each other / along with you. // Everyone you need / is in this room. // These / are the shiny / more important people. //