Where Do I Go?

I finished college today.  I get my diploma a week from today.

Let's take a second to enjoy how profound and wonderful this is. I am done. Done.

Now the question is: what the heck do I do with my life?

I went out for a wee bit after the show tonight with some castmates/our director to see a friend's band play at Jack's Backyard.  (PS Go. Go to Jack's Backyard.  They have oversized jenga, twinkle lights, and an eclectic demographic. More Austin, less Dallas. Really cool.)  Director asked, "So, Katharine, you're done with college. What do you want to do?  Do you want to stay in Dallas?"  It was loud and smoky and hectic and without thought, I said something along the lines of, "I want to get out for a while."  But you know what? I don't know how I feel about that.  The problem with saying what I want to do in a year is that...I feel like that almost limits me.  I want to do everything.  The mantra of my career/life has been "everything happens for a reason."  It has always worked out exactly as it needed to.  I hope this will continue to be the case.

Do I want to leave town and explore EVERYTHING? Yes.

Do I want to entertain going to grad school for arts admin? Yes.

Am I totally in love with my city and committed to bettering Dallas through art?  Am I so excited about Dallas blossoming as an arts community? Yes, yes, and yes.

So what, then?  Do I just apply to everything and audition for everything?  Do I move to LA? New York? Chicago? Portland? Seattle? Boston? London? Stay here?

I'm faced with the most wonderful problem: I have endless possibilities.  Come September, I am sans-commitment.  It is at once terrifying and gloriously thrilling and liberating.

New York scares me.  I've dreamed of living there for over a decade now...but I really don't know if it's right for me.  I'm watching You've Got Mail now for the probably 500th time and yearning for the magical depicted New York lifestyle.  I want to be Meg Ryan, own a charming bookstore in the wealthier (though fashionably tragic) late 1990s, live on the Upper West Side (sigh), and fall in love with Tom Hanks via email.  Instead, if I pursued this, I would end up a penniless hobo crying outside an Upper West Side apartment and then get stalked and killed by the creeper I innocently tried to befriend online.  It's a scary world.

You know what else?  New York weather is terrifying.  I need sunshine.  I need sundresses.  What is this thing called snow?  And in a town that is entirely pedestrian?  How does one survive?

Here's another question.  How can you possibly leave consistent work in one city for a waitressing gig and constant rejection in another?  I fear theatrical unemployment.  It hasn't happened to me for the entire 2.5 years I've been pursuing it (knock on wood) and it would be the end of me if it happened.

If I pursue an Arts Admin masters, will I still be able to perform?  Is it a cop out?  Is it a brilliant idea?

If I pursue an internship/fellowship in another city, am I screwing myself out of valuable acting gigs?

Why doesn't glitter come off in the shower?

Help, y'all.  Were you me, what would you do with your life?  Do I move?  Do I stay?  Do I apply? Do I audition?

All sage advice/comments welcome.  Please and thank you.