Page 70 - Reason To Sing by Kelita Haverland

Reason To Sing

Not long after my successful convention appearance, I
introduced my first “public” creation - Sophelia Flannigan,
a fun-loving, sassy trailer park mama, spun from observing
my town’s mothers, sitting in the bleachers waiting for their
children at the local pool. “Sophelia Flannigan here. I got the
latest and the greatest of what’s doin’ and who’s doin’ what
to who”. I can tell you proudly that since then, Sophelia has
appeared in person before crowds from 5 to 10,000 and even
tens of thousands when I performed her on national television.
Both Mrs. Thomas and Sophelia, along with all my early
singing and acting roles, were intricately woven masks I
diligently wore in order to navigate attention on me AWAY
from the private side of my life. Fear, worry and anxiety
continued to plague me. I always joked that if there were any
psychologists in my audience, they might have an explanation
for the many personas and alter-egos who evolved alongside
me over the years. Just like so many other comedians who
survived traumatic childhoods, I realized early that making
people laugh was deeply satisfying and cathartic for me. An
escape from my own pain and an outlet for creating fun and
forgetting about real life. I know there are many other reasons
too but for me, that is why a star was born.

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