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    • The Book: The Perpetual Visitor
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Falling Off the Beyonce Band Wagon

5/30/2016

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Ok, so this saying has been making its way around the interwebs (and coffee mugs) for quite awhile now, and while it's not unfamiliar to me, I suddenly was struck with some thoughts abut this whole concept during my lunchtime stroll last week. Here's the feedback about this Beyonce thing that you didn't ask for but are getting anyway!

Ok. Let's consider this idea. Both Beyonce and I (and you) do have the same number of hours in a day--true. If this idea motivates you and helps you to keep writing your poetry or working at your voice lessons or reading all of Shakespeare's plays, then by all means, keep going and be grateful that this works for you. 

If this idea doesn't work for you? If it leaves you feeling decidedly unaccomplished and like you have failed at life? Consider this: Beyonce and I do have the same number of hours in a day, BUT it's necessary to acknowledge that Beyonce (and many other performers I admire) also has access to personal trainers, coaches, nutritionists, a publicist, tour manager, hair stylist, has the financial means to keep the whole Beyonce machine running, and in particular, doesn't need to work a 40 hour a week day job in addition to performing...need I go on? 

In our play BIG WORK, the character of Helen, a women's work coach says it well:
 
"Someone might be a basketball star, but he has physical therapists, and a coach, and personal trainers. He has publicists to create this image of who he is. We just don’t see that. It’s not just that one person."

I'm simply trying to say that we cannot (and should not) hold ourselves to a Beyonce (or Bono or B.J. Novak or Betty White  for that matter) standard for the simple reason that we are working with different resources and we are different people. For some people, this realization can probably be depressing, because it can feel like there's a ceiling on how far you can go with your creativity in light of your current circumstances. For me, this idea is actually becoming more and more comforting. Instead of comparing myself to someone that is on a different playing field entirely, I am starting to learn the value of building on my own successes and accept what I need in order to be a whole artist. Yes, I also have 24 hours in my day, but it makes no sense to heckle myself for not spending eight of those hours taking acting classes and writing and engaging in general art-making--if I did, after needing to work eight hours at my day job, commute two hours, cook for one hour, I'd be left with five or less hours of sleep a night. Which for me, is not enough for me to be my best self--as an artist and whole human being.

For me, being an artist certainly means pushing myself past your comfort zone, accepting new and terrifying challenges, and exploring the human condition through the lens of my own joys and heartaches. It's one of the best paths I've chosen to walk thus far in my life, and I need advice that lifts me up, not makes me feel like I'm not falling behind.  

I'd love to hear your perspective on this: do sayings like this one motivate you or cause you to be a bit too hard on yourself? 
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Save the Date!

5/30/2016

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Save the date! The lovely people at Riverhead Books have arranged for me to do a book talk event at Trident Booksellers and Cafe  on Newbury Street in Boston on July 12th at 7 PM! In addition to chatting a bit about my essay in the new Elizabeth Gilbert anthology Eat Pray Love Made Me Do It, I'll be joined by Kate Marple of The Perpetual Visitors Theatre Company for a conversation about the power of sharing stories. If you're in Boston, please join us! 
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Tiny Tips for Creativity #3: Indulge Your Thirteen Year Old Self

5/23/2016

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TINY TIP FOR CREATIVITY #3:
Indulge your thirteen year old self.

The past week was a packed one; I performed in an amazing new documentary play at the Davis Square Theatre in Cambridge (a first for me in that space!), did a little networking with some folks in the theatre community at a local Starbucks, and taught a documentary theatre workshop at a nearby education conference. It was all good, but I was wiped by the end of the week.

When I finally returned to my apartment on Saturday night, tired and hungry, I was looking for a way to recharge. My adult self urged me, "Do some gentle yoga, take a hot bath, maybe even meditate." Completely out of the blue, my thirteen year old self showed up proclaiming "Get takeout from your favorite burger place up the street, change into pajamas and shamelessly watch Baz Lurhmann's "Romeo + Juliet".

Folks, my thirteen year old self won. By a long shot. As I happily ate my dinner on the couch in my pajamas and watched as Leo pursued Claire Danes as only a Montague can, I was so grateful to my inner teenager that suggested I unwind this way. For the whole two hours of the movie, I didn't touch my phone. I didn't worry about what has gone wrong the week before or what the next week might hold in store for me. I was totally and shamelessly engrossed in that world of Verona. It was bliss.

Watching the movie brought me right back to being thirteen, when I went to the movies theatre to see the film with my middle school friends at the mall. The feeling of freedom came rushing back; it was one of the first movies I attended without my parents. Regardless of how "good" an example of Shakespeare the movie is, it was the first Shakespeare I had seen on film or anywhere else and my mind felt blown open hearing the language, imagining that kind of love, transported by the over stimulation that is a Baz Luhrmann film. It was a special experience for me then, and revisiting it now brought me back to a time when everything was just a bit newer, more immediate. It felt good to time travel. even just for the night.

Next time you are in a creative rut, needing to refill the well,  or just plain feeling grumpy about the state of your world, do yourself a favor. Indulge your inner thirteen year old. Is it a rereading of the Secret Garden you desire? Go to the library or thrift store and get a copy.  Is it an Anne of Green Gables inspired picnic you crave? Pack some goodies and just go. Want to catch up with your favorite superhero? Head to the movies. Don't question it and don't feel that you owe anyone an explanation, least of all  your "adult" self.

Do tell---what's something you loved doing as a kid? When is the last time you let yourself do it?



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Bring It

5/15/2016

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I am blogging from the back seat of my Uber ride to the Davis Square Theatre, where I am performing in a brand new documentary play tonite, Blogging Unplugged. I have my usual haul of pre-show supplies with me (see photo above) along with my familiar friends that always show up when I act--excitement and fear.

​In addition to usual nerves, I am particularly jittery because the woman whom my character is based on has traveled from New York to see the show and will be sitting in the audience to hear her story told onstage. No pressure! I wonder if she is feeling nervous, too.

As an actor, I try my best to shed all traces of ME when I perform, and yet I find that I can't help but bring parts of myself with me. Today, I bring with me joy from the amazing afternoon I spent enjoying lilacs at the park with my husband this weekend.  I am carrying some physical discomfort from a recent trip to the dentist.  Also present is frustration over somehow missing a credit card payment and getting slammed with a late fee. It's not all pretty, but hey, it's honest.

I fiercely believe that artists don't have to be depressed, lonely, addictive souls--that happy people can make things, too. But I'm realizing more and more than it's not a requirement to be problem-free, completely balanced, and totally at peace in order to make something magnificent. After all, who do you know that fits into that category, all the time? In fact, it's probably more realistic to be a bit messy in our approach to creating, bringing all the pieces of ourselves with us to perform onstage--whoever we are that day and whatever we may be carrying.  It's not good or bad, but just part of who we are in the world at this moment. If our goal is to create a real person onstage, why can't we be unafraid of the very real human beings we are?

Bring it all with you, and trust that it will be put to good use. See you on the other side of the show!
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    Author

    My name is Melissa and I'm an actor, playwright, author, filmmaker, and teaching artist who wants to help you discover, cultivate, and care for your creativity. 
     
    What does being creative mean to you?

    How do you play every day?

    This is a space for taking a break, a breath,  and finding ways to flex our imagination and find the joy where we can. 

    ​No one is going to present us with a ready made creative life--we have  to step up and gift it to ourselves. I'm so glad you're here.

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