The past week I’ve been truant here because of a cumulative exhaustion of various concerns that have sapped my will power. I’ve been feeling as if I’ll never catch up on my TCG work, like I’m trapped in smaller projects and backlogged emails so that I can’t think clearly about the big projects I need to move forward before I go on paternity leave. And then, there’s the paternity leave: there’s still so much to do to get ready for Sesi. Flux has an amazing energy coming out of the Retreat, but already we’re falling behind on some of our key initiatives. I’m way behind on my work as a NET board member. And I can’t stop reading about the violence in Israel and Palestine, the advance of ISIS, the madness in the Ukraine, the troubled elections in Afghanistan; I’m devoting more time than I probably should to reading any article I can about these various crises, though it seems there is so little I can do to help (and so much I don’t understand).
So here we go, trying to get back on track.
7/22/14, Day, 13, 958: Faust on the Phone with Marielle
This day is so named for the great phone convo Faust director Marielle and I had about the play. We read through the whole play together–adapting Liz Duffy Adam’s strategy of reading through the play for her directors–and stopped at each moment we had a question or idea. The hope is that we’ll arrive in the rehearsal room on the same page. The rewrites have been slow-going because of the iambic pentameter, but everyday I get a little closer to complete. For whatever reason, this upcoming production feels like the least stressful thing in my life: a little reservoir of art-making amid all the gogogo…
7/23/14, Day 13,959: I’m Breaking Up
This day is so named for Emily Conbere’s post on the TCG Circle about balancing theatre with becoming a new parent. As you might imagine, this one landed a little more deeply than most.
7/24/14, Day 13, 960: This is the Work
This day is so named for the TCG-staff discussion about some of the Diversity & Inclusion-related decisions and subsequent controversies that occurred at the San Diego Conference. It was an opportunity for the Conference team to share more context about how certain decisions were reached, and to listen to the impact those decisions had on staff, for good and sometimes ill. It wasn’t an easy conversation, but it was sincere and necessary. This day was the height of my emotional exhaustion, but I came down at home with a lovely pregnancy photo session shot by dear friend Isaiah.
7/25/14, Day 13,961: Eggplant Parmesan on the Terrace
This day is so named because it ended with a beautiful meal cooked by Heather on our terrace. A lot of my anxiety from the past week (read: year) began to dissipate. It began with me skipping writing for the first time this week because I needed to read everything I could about Israel/Palestine, but I’m so grateful it ended with a far more local, loving experience.
In short, I don’t know why this was such a tricky week for me, but I’m hoping to rally over the weekend and get back on track.
Technique never stands still: it only advances or retreats…
Writing: 112 out of 130 days (Faust)
Spanish: 98 out of 130 days
Music: 12 out of 35 days
I refuse to give up on music practice being a part of this list, even though I should…
What small things did I do yesterday to help build the Honeycomb?
(And what does it mean to “Help build the honeycomb?”)
- Signed up for the 9/21 People’s Climate March and shared the info;
- Asked the National Marine Fisheries Service to reject Exxon’s request for Incidental Harassment Authorization in the Santa Barbara channel;
- Shared the good news of Meriam Yeha Ibrahim’s release;
- Signed a petition in support of public hearings about net neutrality;
- Ate vegetarian;
- Had several difficult, honest conversations about equity as it relates to the theatre field and continued moving specific TCG equity-realted programming forward.
Corinna Schulenburg 