Grad School : Year 2

Around this time last year I wrote a post about the things I had learned during my summer session of grad school. So, after completing year #2 of the program, I have compiled a similar list. I left out most of the "textbook" learning - all the directors, philosophies, and techniques we studied.
You're welcome.


Things I learned this summer while studying theatre:

Young children are not the only ones who throw outrageous hissy fits. Grown men and women are just as susceptible. And it's ten times more awkward to watch.

When a professor has a hard time not interrupting students during their presentations, you can earn brownie points by asking for his or her opinion every ten minutes or so. Trust me. It works.

 As an actor - or any artist for that matter - it is completely unacceptable to choose apathy when it comes to current events, politics, and culture. Whether or not you care, you HAVE to know. You have to be informed and learn as much as you can about what's going on in the world. An actor must strive to be the most informed/knowledgeable person in the room. If we're not seeking to impact the world - a world that is constantly changing - then what are we doing? And how can we hope to make an impact if we have no idea what's going on? We must keep up with the dialogue of our time. 

Failures can be the best tools.

 It's important to constantly subject yourself to unfamiliar things. Watch movies that you know nothing about instead of only seeing ones that have good reviews, were recommended by a friend, etc. Find some music from an artist you have never heard of. Listen to all types of music. Look at different art or photography every day. Not only is this important for broadening your perspective, but it's also a great source of the inspiration that every actor/director needs.

It really is possible to have so many plastic surgeries that you are no longer identifiable as the human you were a few years ago. I have witnessed this firsthand.

When a professor begins a story with, "I got picked up at a lesbian bar once..." you know it is time to start a conversation with the person next to you about ANYTHING you can think of with the hope of tuning out the rest of the story.

The best advice I received: "Just press on and do your work."

Yes, the theatre has more technology, but these are changes in appearance, not substance.

Being open can be so rewarding. Sometimes I find myself not even willing to give something a chance. I learned this summer that just being open and available to new ideas and concepts can lead to a lot of learning and understanding. Maybe you'll like what you find. Maybe not. Regardless, the ride is fun. One day I asked one of my professors why he chose to take on one of the more bizarre productions he directed a few years ago. His answer: "It scared the shit out of me...so I did it."

"The future of the theatre lies in the universities and their training."
I want to teach students to do creative work, not just copy the commercial stuff they see.

Find something to appreciate in everything.

...

Overall, it was a pretty difficult summer. This year's workload made last year look like a trip to Disney World. There was a lot of drama (no pun intended) going on that made for a lot of tension. And, to top it off, we spent some time studying some very dark and disturbing forms of theatre that made me almost sick every time I walked in the room.
I found myself taking a lot of walks outside to try to process everything. One evening as I made my way back to the house, I sat down on the driveway and just watched the sky for a while. It had been a particularly awful day, but I suddenly felt an incredible reassurance that this was not all in vain. There is a reason. And I knew that someday I would be able to look back and see that all of the struggling, all the tears, all the long nights of studying and rehearsing, and everything else that goes into this fight will be worth it.

It is worth it.

I can't describe the peace that invaded my heart. My dear friend Olivia sent me a card a few months ago that just said, "You are exactly where you should be. You are doing exactly what you should be doing." And she's right. The Lord has led me here for a purpose. And as one of my professors so eloquently expressed it -

"It's absurd what we do. It's absurd. But we do it because we love it.
And we'll keep doing it." 

How 'bout a Round of Applause?

Before I write about anything else, I must take a moment to say, “Happy 2^nd Birthday!” to my blog. It has been two years since I made this blog as one of my New Year’s resolutions, and I’ve managed to be at least pretty consistent with keeping it updated.

So happy birthday, blog. This is probably the last time I will refer to you as if you were a live human being.

Looking back at my post from last New Year’s Eve, I had some goals for myself. No, I didn’t run a 10k (but I got awful darn close), and no I didn’t read 20 books (this whole year I thought I had set the goal at 15!). But here are the books I did read:

1. The Me I Want to Be – John Ortberg

2. A Little Bit Wicked – Kristin Chenoweth

3. Mis-Directing the Play – Terry McCabe

4. The Last Song – Nicholas Sparks

5. So You Want to Be a Theatre Director? – Stephen Unwin

6. Three Weeks With My Brother – Nicholas Sparks

7. The Kite Runner –  Khaled Hosseini

8. The Irresistible Revolution – Shane Claiborne

9. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

10.  Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins

11.  Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins

12.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone  - J.K. Rowling (for the 2^nd time)

13.  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – J.K. Rowling (ditto)

14.  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – J.K. Rowling (ditto)

15.  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – J.K. Rowling (ditto)

16.  Bittersweet – Shauna Niequist

And yeah, I'll read 20 books this year. For real this time.

When I look back at 2011 I see so much change. A year can fly by so incredibly fast, and yet when you look back, so many things have happened within that short time. A relationship fell apart. I graduated college and started grad school. My best friend got married. I moved back to Kentucky while my family moved from Florida to Tennessee...twice. I started five new jobs and two new small groups. I made new friends and re-established old ones that had faded with time and distance. There was so much change this year.

I was hiking with my dad the other day, and as we trekked along I was wondering what this year should be about. Learning? Travel? Adventures? I found myself dreaming up all sorts of goals and things to accomplish this year. This list of goals soon turned into worries about the future. How will I know where to go? How will it all work out? When will I figure things out? There is so much that I want to do and see and experience. I don’t even know where to begin. I then found myself trying to plan everything. Suddenly the span of my life was stretching before my eyes and I was trying to organize all the details and orchestrate all of the happenings so that everything turns out just right.

And then, just as quickly as these chaotic thoughts rushed into my head, they all raced out and left one simple, little prayer: “God, help me to want what you want.” 

God knows me. He loves me. He has a purpose for me and actually wants to use me. I can’t do any of this on my own. I want his desires to become my desires. If I can live this way, I know I will be led to experience and grow in ways that I never could have imagined for myself.

I’ve been thinking about this post for a while, knowing that I wanted to set new goals for myself in the next year. A phrase that just kept coming back to me was “taste and see that the Lord is good.” So that’s what I’m going to be doing this year. I’m going to travel and go on adventures and cook and learn and read and grow and fall down and press on and cry and laugh...I hope I do a whole lot of laughing. I’m going to take Colossians 3 and do my absolute best to live it every day. I’m going to love. I’m going to practice compassion, humility, patience. I’m going to plead for wisdom and try my hardest to keep my eyes focused on things above. And I will fail. I will fail over and over. But it’s becoming more and more clear to me that my God is not a God that I have to earn my way to. He is grace and he is mercy – two things I cannot live without.

So that’s my prayer for this year…and every year, really.

God, help me to want what you want. 

Colossians 3

Living as those made alive in Christ

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

  Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

 Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

 Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.

 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.