This blog is a visual articulation of MY views of the world around me. I will present various sides of arguments, and always sum them up with my own personal take.
My more entertaining/diverse/ridiculous/lovable blog can be found at http://mrjdjude.tumblr.com/ and I'll do all of my following from that blog as well!
Thanks and enjoy!
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Moving from Getting Snacks to Having the Snacks “Got” for You
When people attempt to look back and find that EXACT moment where they felt that shift in their professional career, they often tell some anecdote about people who once looked down on them breaking their necks to look up at them. No matter how sincere some of these stories are, their is always an air of snotty-ness attached the statement. …at the risk of perpetuating that, let me explain a moment of revelation I recently had.
Before I start, as a kind of disclaimer, I, in NO WAY, think I have “made it” in my field but am just noticing, appreciating, being thankful, for a little upward movement.
I’ve been hired as a consultant at a local play development center to help them investigate the viability of one of their fellowships specifically for early-career playwrights of color. I was responsible for going through all of this informational material about the programs, some of their reports during its existence, and their grant proposal to funders to see what the history and focus of the program has been and what are ways it can improve. After forming initial thoughts on the subject, I interviewed field-wide practitioners on their thoughts about new play development, as it relates to early-career playwrights of color and collect their proposals on what an ideal program would look like. From these interviews, I am to write a report on the findings and help them think about the program’s redesign.
Well as I was conducting one of the interviews, I had a young staff member ask me “If there was anything else I needed?” A small gesture, admittedly, nothing more than just shear polite. I generally just ask for a bottle of water or politely say no, but this day I had a little bit of a headache (part sinus, part the drinking I did to celebrate Kappa Alpha Psi’s 101st birthday) and really needed something to eat. I ask if there was something I could munch on. To my EXTREME AND THANKFUL surprise, he brought back cookies, peanut butter-filled pretzels (an underrated treat!), an apple and some crackers!
I didn’t even think he would produce the crackers, but the fact that he went above and beyond for me really made my day, well shit, my professional career up to this point. While I realize one will never outgrow the role of getting things for invited guests to one’s organization, one does not always have the luxury of being asked “if there is anything else [they] need?”! This small, possibly petty and vain and shallow, moment really made all of the stress, drama, disappointment, and the like I’ve endured worth it. For this brief moment, I thought that a career in this field wouldn’t be such a bad life, after all.
Finding that Balance
“I Got a Man” - Maimouna Youssef
S/O to Sharisse for putting me on to Maimouna! In this track she shares with us the “love triangle” she finds herself in with the two sides of music. There is the music she loved to make growing up; organic, soulful, and indie. On the other side is the commercial side of music that keeps money in her pockets and her name in thepublic eye.
That conflict, as she so lyrically portrays, is a conflict many young artists find themselves facing. I’m often wondering how I can do the work I want to do (culturally relevant theatre) but also achieve the top level success I want. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to be an in demand director, working on Broadway and the Regionals. I’d also be lying if I said I didn’t want to tell those non-commercial stories like Neighborsor doing shows specifically for ASL communities. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like you can be commercially successfully and do that culturally relevant work at the same time.
I guess it depends on your definition of success is. In my most recent experience as an assistant director, I gained a whole new perspective on success. The director had worked on the biggest stages, but due to health and his strong desire to be a good father, no finds himself taking smaller, more local jobs and only working at the second tier regional houses. He is able to do the smaller projects that he believes in but has also had the opportunity to do the big, more commercial shows. While I can’t say that I want that (I’d hate for health to be a limiting factor in my life!) but I’d love the opportunity to achieve that balance. Ideally, I’d run a culturally relevant theatre but job out once or, at most, twice a year to do a regional show and one on Broadway. Yea, that would be AMAZING.
God willing, I will get there. I feel blessed to have even gotten this far.
Business Cards
Damn, long time.
So last Friday I received my first set of business cards. It’s funny how a simple thing, like a 2”x5” piece of paper can mean so much. I never received business cards while working with Arena. In the grand scheme of my life/career trajectory, I’m sure that we’ll have a larger metaphorical meaning later.
So what does it really mean to have a business card? Is this my “business”? Am I what my title says?
Trying to navigate establishing a career and growing up has been interesting… It seems like every thing I do affects where I’ll finally end up. My desire, like most, is to be happy but what the fuck does that actually look like? What will my happiness look like? Will I be able to recognize it when I get there? Who will share it with me?
I know my little 2”x5” card does not hold the answer to these questions but it seems to be a building block. This little tradable token marks a commitment I’ve made to myself. I’ve committed to this career path. I’m committed. Let’s see where this goes.
If you see me in the streets, ask for my card, I can finally give you one!
