Body Integration

December 12 – Body Integration This year, when did you feel the most integrated with your body? Did you have a moment where there wasn’t mind and body, but simply a cohesive YOU, alive and present? (Author: Patrick Reynolds)

This happened on and off during my performances this year. A couple of them just felt so ON and freeing and wonderful.

This has happened off stage as well, mind you. I can think of one particular performance of Death and the Ploughman along with some isolated performances of Picasso at the Lapin Agile (not sure about Borkman, for some reason).

I could elaborate, but I’m still playing catch up on this project. So that’s all for now.

Eliminating 11 Things in 2011

December 11 – 11 Things What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life? (Author: Sam Davidson)

     

1.  Clothes I don't wear.
2.  Books I don’t read (or won’t read)
3. Credit Card Debt
4. Stuff under my bed
5. The clutter under/around my desk
6. General clutter at my office cube
7. Not having Netflix
8. Complicated articulation
9. The need for everyone to like me
10. Passive input
11. Something else

THOUGHTS ON ACTING ON THE ELIMINATION

I think I’ll start by a big purge/cleaning come the first of the year. I do a fairly decent job of cleaning up the general mess in my room on a weekly basis, but there are disorganized piles accumulating around the perimeter.

Credit Card Debt will be a bit trickier. I’m going to need to make a better plan of chipping away (along with my loans) in a more focused way (the word of 2011).

I was hoping to make this list that is solely tangible and manageable—but it was hard to come up with 11 things. Something like item “Complicated Articulation” is difficult to throw out just point blank. But it’s something I realize more and more. I have a need to soften the extremes of language. In dealing with people, you have the candor running in the back of your mind that is tempered with the careful and respectful language I’d like to use when dealing with people (especially in terms of criticism). My problem is that I have a hard time forming opinions and arguing them. Hence, this term I’ve just sort of made up called “complicated articulation.” (Which is complicated in its own right.)

Reverb 10 is messing with my idea of how much I should just stop and outright change things (in a bold, drastic manner).

This prompt is a little “resolution-y” to me (not necessarily a bad thing). The tricky thing about resolutions is that people create huge goals that cannot be fulfilled in the span of a month. It’s this major a year-wide hope OR it creates goals that have no measurable outcome. So I’m debating how drastic a list like this needs to be. I’m trying to be sensible about what I can do in this round of elimination. But I wonder if I may be tipping too far on one end of the scale.

Passive Input is another nag I’d like to shake away.

This is most directly linked to web content I view. I read a lot of blogs, articles, quips, and things online (and off). Some of it is simply for kicks and laughs. Other of it is incredibly useful information.

My problem is that I read it, scan it once and then usually forget about it. The nature of my work in social media, marketing, and theatre involves a fast-paced social aspect on the web. Often the content is just for general education. Sometimes it can have a real, direct impact in my life, or I can use it to change something about how I do things as an actor or use social media with theatre marketing. I want to eliminate passive input and charge it with active interaction. This may mean writing more comments, providing advice from my perspective and creating more of my own content.

Another thing it may require is some careful reflection. 

Why does this particular photo, entry, whatever strike me? Why does it interest me? Do I agree with this point of view? Can I contribute any qualifying information? This will help guide to more focused and purposeful viewing. It will also strengthen and build a greater network.

I’m in this transitional period where I want to stop thinking like this humble student and start working credibility about being an “expert” or leading professional in my field. This doesn’t stop the learning, but it does require an attitude shift.

Additionally, if something isn’t useful to me (in terms of all of this content online—this noise), I need to eliminate it.

One trend I’m seeing with a lot of Twitter users whom I value is they are now keeping their followers to a very tight group of people. When I first started using Twitter in a “marketing” sense, the mantra was “follow those who follow you.” Which is a nice gesture, but it’s not the best advice in the world when you think about it. It’s not about numbers and popularity, it’s about the quality of the relationship. So I can keep subscribing to all of these REALLY USEFUL blogs, or following all these fascinating people, but it’s NONE of it is going to be any use to me if I keep scanning or ignoring the content and leaving it behind to accumulate with all the other noise in cyberspace.

Wisdom

December 10 – Wisdom. What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out? 

I’ll come back to this one. I have to think about it for a while.

I can’t quite think of any major life decisions I made. I’m still kind of waiting to see what will come of some that I have decided on (mostly in terms of job/profession stuff).

There are other decisions we make all the time.

I think I’ve made a conscious decision to be more frank with people. But it’s been nebulous territory and wasn’t any clear choice I made. This quality does come at the risk of hurting feelings and telling people stuff they don’t want to hear. It’s uncomfortable and difficult, but I have to believe that it’s better than just being a wet noodle.

How’s that for a vague answer?

Party Promt

December 9 – Party Prompt: Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans.

Going to the Mumford and Sons concert this spring was fantastic. This wasn’t a traditional party, but this was an event I recall quite fondly for this year. I guess it was a party--one with hundreds of strangers.

I met up with my friend J. We waited in line in the rain to get to the venue (the Varsity Theatre in Dinkytown). I could feel a great buzz with the crowd. We were with some of the luckiest people who had scored tickets. The concert sold out in under an hour.

People were trying to buy tickets for an exorbitant amount of money. The desperation in their eyes was palbable. I felt a bit sorry for them, but I was not going to give up my ticket.

The venue was excellent. It’s an open space with a mezzanine surrounding the perimeter. Some plush couches and chairs were scattered around the edges. Funky chandliers hung from the ceiling. This place is hip.

This place also didn’t have any ventilation.

So it was a hot, sweaty mess. Remember, we’re basically all soaking from the rain. Without any air conditioning or even fans, the elements are a bit against anyone enjoying the concert. Too bad it was fantastic.

I have rarely felt like I have been a part of a collective that has ridden the same energy wave. I don’t go to a lot of concerts, mind you. But I’ve been part of plenty of large-group gatherings. I go to theatre, attend different concerts. I suppose the only thing that can come close to this kind of energy bubble was marching with Phantom Regiment. Even then, this sense of ensemble and connection was fleeting.

In any case, Mumford and Sons tore the place up. I think as an audience, we gave them as much of a show as they did for us. And then the cycle of energy kept spinning back and forth. This is the kind of thing you crave as a performer. It’s a symbiotic relationship. Sends you spinning in a trance.

I want to be clear I had only had a beer or two. Before we start to wonder if there were any other influences…

The clarity of their performance was infectious. Their music is blazing across the globe, and it’s easy to see why. It’s a formative, touchstone band for me. It’s a little weird to say that since I’ve only known about them for a year, but I’m confident that they will be one of those bands I’ll always turn to no matter what. The lyrics are beautiful, simple and complex. The harmonies are a blast. The plucking and jamming is impossible not to groove to. Experiencing it live brings all of that to an exponential growth.

I hope to see them again soon.

It was a party I’ll never forget.

Beautifully Different | Riveting

December 8 – Beautifully Different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful

Reflect on ALL THE THINGS THAT MAKE [ME] DIFFERENT?!

You kidding me?

I read someone’s random post about this and how bogus and superficial it seems. This answer requires a lot of comparisons to other people and judging others. I’m not saying that I don’t do this kind of thing (I am human, afterall).

So I’m going to answer with something so utterly cliché, I’m nearly embarrassed to write it:

I’m me. And that’s all.

I’ll leave this post with something that I really appreciate.

I took a short auditions class this past month and one mantra the instructor repeated is:

“YOU ARE ALL RIVETING.”

His main reason for saying this is that many actors go into auditions and put up a lot of masks. They may have a nervous tic they do with their hands, their face, their voice. They put on personas to keep whoever they are hidden. Acting and auditioning requires a sensitive vulnerability and some major guts. His aim is to wipe all the artifice away and present ourselves to an audition.

Because who I am is the most fascinating thing I can present be in an audition.

This is useful to take into the big ol’ world. No one said this is easy. In fact, it’s incredibly difficult. But I’m starting to recognize actors and people who understand they are riveting. There’s a poise and confidence embedded with humility and love that creates a compelling and fully-realized person. It’s about not comparing yourself to anyone else. Because ultimately, that’s selfish. This self-consciousness that people worry about is a form of selfishness.

This whole business is—to quote my instructor again—is simple. It’s not easy, but it’s simple.

This is all strangely comforting. I’m going to keep this handy for a while, I think.

I don’t think I’ve quite mastered it. But I’m starting to revel in this notion that I am who I am.

I am riveting.

You are riveting.

We all be riveting.

Community

December 7 – Community. Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011?

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Oh boy. I think this is a biggie for me.

I’m living in a variety of communities. I play different roles (of myself) in them. If you’re already confused, join the club.

In any case, I live in a very strange community of people I work, live, and play with nearly 24/7. It has been wonderfully rewarding and exceptionally challenging. Our situation is completely unique. We’re from all over the country (and then some). We all in this tiny, tiny town to create theatre. It’s very isolated (and now cold, and covered in snow). The work we do changes lives in ways we probably can’t begin to surmise. It’s rewarding. We discuss minutiae all the time. We are a family in every sense of the word (think of all positive and negative connotations). Living in this community has been a constant learning and evolving process. I think I’m going to be more grateful for this than I realize. But it’s kind of hard to recognize that right now. I think it’s safe to say we’re all kind of going nuts at the end of the year. I know I am, and I know others are.

One community (and this is going to seem weird, but I shall trumpet it unless I see a reason not to) that I cherish lately is the people I follow on Twitter. It’s a bustling community that is full of intelligent, insightful, hilarious, caring folks. The people and organizations I interact with makes for excellent community, conversation, education, and laughs. My hope is to strengthen these relationships. It would be fun to meet some of these folks in real life. Sure, some of these followers sometimes only skim the surface, but my humble Twitter community has provided a lot of joy for me, and I’m stickin’ by that. It’s incredibly difficult to explain this to people who don’t understand (which is most of my friends and family, to be honest). I anticipate this growing even moreso in 2011.

I’m only touching on two major ones. There are others. Some I’m a part of by default, others seem to have a moving target that I can get a good aim on. I sense a lot of great community in my life. I feel like I’m on the verge of some communities (say, the Twin Cities theatre scene), but I’m not wholly immersed. I would love to make an effort of thriving in the communities I may dabble in. I want to make a greater impact and difference. Come March, I’ll also have a better idea of what other communities I may be a part of—that’s when grad school offers happen.

Another interesting point about community in the future: I’m going to be playing a part of a community in Henrik Ibsen’s play “An Enemy of the People” next spring. Without getting into too much detail, this is a story about community. It’s about a town that bands together (viciously) against some incriminating evidence to the town in which they live. It’ll be interesting to explore this notion of community more. After that, it’s the fun on Skid Row in “Little Shop of Horrors.” I’m sure more details will arrive down the road.

This is a topic I’m keenly interested in. I like this prompt. I found myself in a bit of a groove, even.

Make

December 6 – Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it?

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Last night I made a Thai-chicken pumpkin soup. It involved garlic, ginger, chicken, carrots, celery, rice vinegar, cilantro, onion, chicken broth, pumpkin, green onion, corn starch, whipping cream, peanuts, lime juice, and probably other ingredients. It was a slow-cooker combination.

I haven’t been making a whole lot lately. I made some sock puppets the other day for a little work video. It was surprising how much fun that was for a mere 45 minutes.

I’ve been kind of working on a website. But it just…doesn’t interest me at the moment.

I do want a project to work on, something build. Some kind of hobby that involves my talents outside of work (or the work I’m now doing). I’m thinking it may be centered on writing somehow; I just don’t know. I just don’t know what that something is. But I want to be creative.

My friend just put out an EP. You can buy it on iTunes. I’m freakin’ proud of the work and time he spent on it. It took a lot of those elements. I kind of want something like that. Something that says: “hey look what I’ve been working on for a while.”

But I just don’t know what that is. Thus, my eagerness to have something to show to people is ill-intentioned. This need/desire to have some product at the end discredits the journey and work it takes to get to that point. I value that journey.

 
I think whatever I end up “making” in the future may deal with writing. I have a feeling. I’m not going to hold myself to that writing (remember, I’m just “worrying” about completing Reverb 10 right now).