Posts Tagged ‘practice’
Daylight Savings Time as Timelessness
The clock on the wall of my studio tells me that it is 8:12. A week ago at this time it would have been 7:12. This large clock, that also shows temperature and humidity, is run by a little double A battery and its hands, its hours, its minutes and seconds are not connected to […]
Showing Up
Sitting across from me in the coffee shop is my 95 year old father reciting lyrics from a song that matters to him today. The song was written 65 years ago but for my dad it could have been released an hour ago. He’s been doing this my whole life. Making the moment shamelessly timeless. […]
Performing real stories in artificial settings
Most of the time Dante and I are coaching someone that is preparing for a performance, we are focused on helping them tell their authentic story in an engaging way. We explore the balance of keeping the story real while making adjustments for the artificial setting of a stage. Let’s admit it, it feels weird […]
An Artist’s Studio By Any Other Name
I’m on a business trip. I’ve come to Chicago to visit an artist who established an art studio inside a school. I’m pursuing a question that interests me: Is an art studio always an art studio? I think of the now seldom-paraquoted: A rose by any other name is still a rose. The actual quote […]
Matisse
I’m slowly circling around the parking lot at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. I’m stunned by the cherry red Fiat, the cobolt blue Prius, a bright orange Jeep. Where did this stuff come from? Oh, and there is the early autumn rust, like nails left outside, of a half dozen spindly trees. The green above […]
Gym
This morning at the gym I did something completely unexpected – I took off my headphones. The world came rushing in from all around me and I found myself having a TEDx Moment in multiples. By “TEDx Moment” I’m referring to the moment of bright insight that often accompanies the experience of listening to or […]
River
“Creativity is a river. It has its slow parts and its fast parts. It’s always flowing. (pause) And, I’m beginning to figure out how to stay in my water.” These words were spoken last Friday by an eleven-year-old artist at a Theater of Inclusion week-long day camp. The camp is designed to be an arts […]
Burning House
Listening is part of a master set of skills. It doesn’t matter whether you are a bicyclist listening to the traffic behind you, a museum visitor taking in the words of your companion, or the leader of a project trying to run a meeting. Listening carefully to your surroundings and the people sharing those surroundings […]
First Run of the Season
Today began a process. A very long process. Today was my first official training run this year. I began running three years ago when I did a triathlon with a friend. I had never done any kind of athletic race before and it seemed like a fun challenge. At the time I couldn’t run a […]
The Student in Us
Who can say what deeply moves a student? By “student” I mean any of us going about our days, doing the work we do, wondering about the things and people we encounter. There is a student inside each of us. An outside-the-box questioner who keeps most of those questions to herself. After just a couple […]