While on vacation with my mother and best friend back in July I made the decision to leave my part-time job in ticket sales and sustain myself entirely on freelance work. It was a big leap of faith for me, but one I finally felt courageous enough to make. Worst case scenario: I fail, and as we all know if you're not failing you're not taking risks, and if you're not taking risks what the hell are you doing with your life?! (Confession: It was actually this book that inspired me to finally take the leap. Follow-up blog post to come.)
Since leaving the security of the Kansas City Symphony I've taken up an array of new jobs. First, I was selected to be the playwright in residence at the Johnson County Arts & Heritage Community Center, where I'm working in conjunction with resident artists Krista Tatschl Eyler and Arwen White to guide a group of middle schoolers as they write and perform a brand new musical one-act: "Checkmate." The program is free for students and funded entirely by the National Endowment for the Arts (w00t w00t!) We just wrapped up writing the script and dive into rehearsals this Saturday. We're the first resident artists to lead this particular program so everything has been one big test lab, but I'm very proud of our funny, creative, enthusiastic students. It feels good to be doing work that is both financially and artistically rewarding.
I was also hired on as a peer educator in The Coterie Theatre's Dramatic Health Education Project, a sex ed program geared towards high schoolers. The material for this has been beastly to learn (ask me anything about STDs. Go ahead, ask me!) but ultimately very rewarding.
With moving to a new apartment, starting multiple new jobs, living the life of a bridesmaid for a weekend, and participating in the Midwest Dramatists Play Conference (which could be a whole blog post in itself), AND beginning my grad school application process (top choice: UCSD!) I haven't had much time for the one thing I do best: writing. Something I intend to fix PRONTO. As Dr. Who would say...
but hey, this blog post counts right?