For many of us, a big, scary thing would be writing and producing a musical. For Erik Orton, a writer/director/producer in New York City, it takes a little something more.

Erik’s big, scary thing is sailing around the world with his family. Not on an ocean liner. In a sailboat.

He admits that it is a daunting challenge. And when faced with such a daunting challenge, Erik and his family are breaking it down into what they like to call “chicken steps.”

“Here’s how we’re starting out: our children need passports for this undertaking. Getting passports is less scary than sharks. So…getting passports is what we call a chicken step. Next scary thing: how in the world are we going to pay for such a ludicrous undertaking? We don’t know exactly, but why should that stop us?  What we do know is that we have a lot of stuff around in our apartment that we don’t use or really need…certainly not on a boat. (That’s my wife’s idea.  She’s just dragging me along.) What if we sold all that stuff and put it toward passports? Small stuff, but it’s a start. That’s a chicken step. Starting to get the idea?”

Erik was raised primarily in Germany and the suburbs of Washington D.C.  He graduated from BYU in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts in Media Music and a minor in Playwrighting. He began writing and producing theatre while a student. In addition to producing and directing a number of plays, Erik has also written a number of works, including the musical Berlin. Erik and his wife, Emily, live in New York City.

MDB would like to welcome Erik Orton to the blog. Be sure to read Erik’s post, Chicken Steps.