On Bravery and Creativity.

"We put our art out for others to see like laundry on the line. We expose ourselves to the core. It takes great courage to be an artist." 

- Gwen Fox

I've been trying to put myself out there more often recently. As a person, a friend, and as a theatre artist, educator, and practitioner. Tonight, in my Acting/Directing Styles class, we had to do an Autotheatre project, which required us to take 15-20 lines of verse (from anything) and bring them to life.

I chose to use the lyrics from "If You Could Come Back Home" by William Fitzsimmons, and made it about the end of my last relationship. It was something I needed to do for about fifty different reasons, but mostly to say goodbye to him and just let it all go. And I did. The piece let me bare my soul in ways I haven't been able to in the past couple of months, maybe years. And now a weight has lifted from me that I've been ready to get rid of. So, farewell to that.

But I have to say that the work of my classmates, peers, and friends was truly outstanding. The way that each of them were able to turn simple words (like the lyrics to a Sara Bareilles song, or "The Road Not Taken,") and make them alive, and - more importantly - personal. Each of the other thirteen pieces were able to transport me, as an audience member and an artist, to a new plane, a new dimension, and a new reality. The parts of their lives that they were able to admit and profess, were incredibly moving.

I want to be more courageous. And I think this - my last semester - will help me do just that.