It Won't Be Long Now...

"And one day I'm walking to JFK and I'm gonna fly.....
It won't be long now. Any day."
-"It Won't Be Long Now", In The Heights

There are 4 musicals that define my life.

Wicked, the musical that changed my life forever and has become the theme song to my life. RENT, the musical that taught me about love and loss and how to live my life. Next to Normal, the musical that showed me that it's okay to be broken sometimes and that there is always light.

And In The Heights, the musical that taught me to dream big and to hold onto my dreams.

I finally got around to watching the reunion concert that the original In The Heights cast did about a month and a half ago. Life has been busy so it's been on my "watch later" list for a long time now. But then last night, Lin-Manuel Miranda tweeted at me. Lin-Manuel Miranda...the man who has been a huge inspiration to me, and the man responsible for my favorite quote of all time. In my eyes, the man is a legend.

So after the fangirl heart attack that caused, I decided it was time to actually watch the reunion concert.

And it was just as amazing as the day I first discovered it.

In The Heights taught me to chase my dreams and to never stop trying, even when I didn't feel like I was good enough. The song "Breathe" helped me to push through my first year of undergrad when I knew I wasn't getting the grades I needed....but I pushed on. "It Won't Be Long Now" helped me to realize that my dreams are just around the corner so long as I have the courage to chase them. "When You're Home" made me realize that home is where the heart is, no matter if that's a physical place, or a person. "Alabanza" helped me to deal with the death of two close family members within the past year...realizing that their love for me will always live on inside of me.

And finally, the last verse of the finale always makes me feel like there will always be hope, even when I don't think there's any left.

In the first song, Usnavi, the main character, sings/raps "Yeah I'm a street light choking on the heat. The world spins around while I'm frozen to my seat." But by the end of the show his tune changes "Yeah I'm a street light chilling in the heat! I illuminate the stories of the people that I meet!" He's found his purpose. He finds that home wasn't an island far away. He was home all along.

"I'm home! Where it's 100 in the shade but with patience and faith we remain unafraid! I'm home! You hear that music in the air? Take the train to the top of the world and I'm there. I'm home."

And maybe that's what my dream is. To find my home. And while it's not a big dream, maybe it's enough.