How Santa Claus made me a rock star

I was just nine years old when the jolly old elf brought me a record player and the current #1 single, “Brand New Key.” It wasn’t long before I spent all my allowance on records and drafted my best friend to sing and dance along. We invented alter egos who toured the world. Hour after hour, we’d weave elaborate tales of music, travel and romance with our sister characters at the heart of every adventure.

Fast forward to life in a cubicle

I built a career as an advertising copywriter, creating brochures, web sites, ads and speeches for an international clientele. I was privileged to partner with some phenomenally creative people. Yet I secretly envied anyone living “on purpose.” I was drifting. Drying up. Dying.

While vacationing in Peru, I had a moment of truth.

Sally (middle) & friends test acoustics near Machu Picchu

There I was in a small launch on an Amazon tributary with a handful of fellow travelers, dressed in a bathing suit and a life jacket. My heart hammered as I watched our guide repeatedly test the river for a spot where the brown water ran deep. Fear of the unknown gnawed at me. Only the day before, we’d fished piranha from nearby waters. Would I go for it? As soon as we dropped anchor, my friend followed, splashing into the river and declaring it wonderful. Someone spotted pink dolphins swimming close by. And before I could talk myself out of it, I leapt feet first into the experience of a lifetime.

This was what my spirit pined for. Screw the fear—find the fun.

Sally stands out in a stiff crowd

So I asked myself, where can I find fun every day? Fun is telling stories, and fun is indulging my inner ham. It seemed my inner rock star was calling. Rather than a call to fame, this one’s a call to joy. So now I talk to people about all the crazy things that interest me. I do playshops to help others find their own map to fun. And I write books filled with characters learning to leap.

Sally Felt lives in Texas. In addition to writing, speaking and adventuring, she still takes freelance copywriting jobs and loves her advertising clients. Say hi.