Well readers, I'm the worst. I am so sorry to have been off the airwaves for a few weeks! The start of the school year really swept me off my feet in the best way possible, and hopefully I will soon have the energy for a real update. Last night was the Back to School Night for lower school parents, and tonight was the same event for middle and upper school parents. It was great to spend some time really digging into both of my main roles as a teacher and a theatre technician.
My favourite part of a stage crew gig is typically the closing procedures, particularly when I'm working solo. I love the feeling of an empty space, filled with a plethora of possibilities and a happy history. I love hearing the sound of my footsteps echo throughout the space as I reflect on a successful event or contemplate how to alleviate certain challenges in the future. I love the eerie look of the darkened space lit only by a ghost light as I walk out for the night. There is such satisfaction in the work that technicians do, even though the sign of a job well done is often that no one noticed that you were doing your job. Somehow the occasional thanklessness and invisibility makes me love it even more for reasons I can't quite describe.
Tonight as I shut down the lights, mics, and projections after the middle school parent presentations, I had a sudden realization: I have achieved an old dream of mine. In high school, I wanted more than anything to make my way as an artist, specifically an actor. I abandoned my dream of going into the arts somewhere around the end of high school or the beginning of college as I accepted that performing was not a strength of mine, and I discovered another passion and dream to pursue as I began to study education. I continued to work behind the scenes in theatre and hone my skills, but truly never thought anything would come of it professionally, assuming I might someday volunteer in community theatres.
And yet somehow, here I sit today, a member of the performing arts faculty at an international school. Time, wisdom, and experience have been kind and wonderful teachers to me. Over the past 6+ years I have been so fortunate to discover a talent and passion for technical theatre and theatre management. I will never be able to fully express my gratitude to those who gave me the opportunities and tools I needed to find and develop this aspect of myself.
As I've said before, one of my favourite things about being an intern is that I get to do everything I love: act as a classroom teacher, work as a theatre technician, integrate drama across the grade levels, stage manage and train aspiring stage crew. Thinking about what I might do in years to come is hard because I love that right now I can do it all. The flip side is, of course, that I can't do any of it quite as deeply as I might like. For the time being I'm enjoying the chaos and accepting that when it's time to think about the future, I can and will be able to thoughtfully consider my options. I feel quite blessed to have such a wonderful myriad of opportunities to have a job where I love going to work every day.
One of my favourite quotes about the arts is by Kurt Vonnegut. He once said, "Go into the arts. I'm not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something."
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Currently reading: oh my goooooodness we just organized our classroom library and I can't wait to read all the books!!!
Current high: still so, so truly happy here with the work I do and the people I share my life with
Current low: I've managed to royally screw up my left leg, (lesson learned, don't run through the pain) so I haven't been able to run for the last two days :(
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