My Company had a very unusual piece of homework due Friday. During the week, they were asked to do something very specific and very purposeful to benefit their mind, body, and spirit. At first, I could detect hesitancy in that it was production week for many of them in our school’s big musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. They get all so edgy when it comes to ANY school work during this time period – understandably, I guess. However, I would not bend. I said that self-maintenance was even more critical when life began piling up responsibilities.
On Friday after our “checking in” we went around the room with each student voicing the thing they did to tend to themselves in these three areas. I heard remarkable, beautiful things. One would expect the deliberate need for better sleep and better eating, but the others surprised me. I heard
- Spending time alone without noise
- Journaling just for the heck of it
- Taking time to pray
- Scribbling on a pad of paper
- Spending time in front of the piano
- Stretching without anyone enforcing this
- Breathing
- Calling someone they haven’t spoken to in a long time
- Giving oneself into a family outing with abandon
It really was beautiful. It felt so nourishing just listening to them. We all became inspired by the way others were tending to themselves. We really did learn – learned ways to take care of ourselves.
Sometimes I wonder if I am veering too far away from the tradition of doing scenes, critique, rehearse, perform, repeat – repeat – repeat. With this class I am wanting to create and nurture ARTISTS first and theatre artists secondly. We are doing our scenes and monologues – yes – but sometimes we are just feeling creativity and letting play and imagination roll along with us. I am not here to offer psychotherapy – but how can one address given circumstances, risk and communion without breaking out of the box and getting real. This is certainly new ground for me as a teacher. I am monitoring each day to make sure I am leading these your artists forward. It is risk.
I demand risk of them. I am taking a risk myself.