Posts Tagged "events"

Unpacking An Old Dream

Posted by LisaYoung in Big Ideas, Faith | 17 comments

When I was a kid, I used to dream about being “a rock staaaar”, as I used to call it.

You know, writing and singing songs on a stage in front of thousands of screaming fans. That kind of thing.

Well, I got older, and older, and “life” seemed to get in the way. I all but abandoned that dream for the last fifteen years.

See, I’ve been doing some concentrated living since I graduated high school. I had a kid, got married, had another kid, started a couple of businesses, lost a couple of businesses, and bascially set about living a normal life, instead of chasing after some “hare-brained, childish dream” from a time when my hips were a lot slimmer, and my hair wasn’t even starting to grey.

Then, a friend of mine, who holds a weekly meeting for spiritually minded folks at her shoppe, suggested we all put together vision boards.

Other Gifts

Posted by LisaYoung in Fun | 2 comments

No birthday hangovers here.

In fact, the birthday wasn’t much different from every other day this year. I had promised myself to take the day off, but it just wasn’t very convenient to do so.

So I walked the kid to school, and worked on website issues with my tech team, and dealt with a few “fires” that had to be put out.

It was pretty much an uneventful birthday.

At first, this did not set well with me. See, I’m an action taker – a DO-er – and sitting around NOT doing what I wanted to do kind of pissed me off.

Presence: The Stage

Posted by LisaYoung in Fun | 4 comments

In the middle of the stage, house lights up, the din of the audience has waned.

I’m standing here, breathing in the final moments of the show.

Recalling the highlights, the laughter, the flubs, and the tender moments.

Reliving the looks on my actors’ faces at Intermission as I shared audience responses, technical issues, and notes regarding their projection, tone, and enunciation.

Bittersweetness washes over me, as the sounds in the room change: hammers pounding pins into flats, men hoisting the bar off the stage and back onto the floor. Brooms sweeping the floor, costumes being piled on the table, set pieces being returned to their homes in storage… and the chatter of the cast and crew as we wrap up, pack up, and clear away any trace of the production.

Strike always gets me.

It’s the completion of the circle of life of a show. We begin mostly as strangers, with a bare stage. We rehearse, almost in secret, in an upper room of the theater. It isn’t until the bulk of the set is present that we take to the stage and begin the process of bringing vitality to these two dimensional characters.

Then the lights, sound and music emerge, creating new challenges, adding new dimensions to the tapestry.

And the curtain goes up on opening night… and the friends I’ve come to know disappear as they slip deeper and deeper into their characters, becoming those people for a fortnight. Then, as quickly as they stepped into those roles, they’re stepping out again, pulling down set dressing, saying our goodbyes one last time.

It’s in this moment that I see the show’s “life” flash before my eyes – much like the flash of the camera as the show’s highlights are snapped off one after another by the photographer. I’m reminded that everything comes to an end – and in that ending, an opening is created for a new beginning.

But tonight, I enjoy the company of my cast and crew, our producer and managing partner. We celebrate a great review, the kinship of this rag tag bunch of actors, and relive some of the humorous moments of the show.

It will be a bit sad to head home tonight, and I know I’ll probably mourn this show a little. But right now, I’m just enjoying this moment, soaking in these wonderful people, this wonderful place, and all the memories we’ve created for ourselves and our audience.

We’ve touched people and changed lives. That’s something of which we can be proud.

I’m already thinking about what my next project will be, and how to make it happen faster, so I’m not living in the limbo. But for now, tonight, I’m here. Enjoying, drinking it all in, until the next circle begins.

The Hard Way Isn’t Always The Best Way

Posted by LisaYoung in Big Ideas, videos | 14 comments

What’s Your Super Power?

Posted by LisaYoung in Faith, videos | 12 comments