WOW. I have been such a SLACKER with this blog. I guess that is what happens when you are a crazy drama teacher with no life. So...UPDATE!
Since I returned from California, I have continued to lose weight. I am currently at a loss of 98 pounds. I have been stuck here since the end of December, and I am struggling to get through the current plateau. My trainer got hired by THE BIGGEST LOSER at the local fat camp here in Southern Utah. It's great, but I only get her once a week. This makes it really hard to motivate myself to workout. But I am doing great.
Jan and I put up a new show this year; White Christmas was a BLAST to produce, and see do so well. Our students really caught the vision, and did an amazing job. We sold out, and were able to really showcase how great our school and students are. If anyone has any question about doing this show, DO IT! We loved our experience with it. We also competed in the Shakespeare Competition at SUU. We had a great time, and our students did very well. Currently, I am directing The Mousetrap. We also go to a Musical Theatre competition in Disneyland next month. ALSO. I am so damn proud of my wife.....she was asked to direct the Utah Shakespearean Festival's touring show this year. The show is Taming of the Shrew, and she is doing amazing work there. If you get a chance to see the show...DO. Maybe this is the reason that the last entry I have is from September!
I have been feeling a strong draw to go back to school, and get my Master's Degree. I am feeling like I am stagnant and not doing anything to change the world I live in. This past week, we attended the UTA conference (Utah Theatre Association) with our students in Orem, Utah. This was a great place for my students to attend workshops, and audition for schools. I was trying to do as much politics for the Thespian Chapter in Utah, but we also had the privilege of hearing ANNE BOGART speak to us. She was so inspiring! She told a story that I want to recall, and which helped me get over my feelings of unimportance. She told of a good friend of hers that was working as a general dogsbody in an NYC theatre company. She was feeling down, and just as I am, in that she was making no difference in the world. She was also obsessed with Mother Theresa, who was visiting NYC at the Indian Embassy that very day. She left work, and just stood out on the steps of the embassy trying to catch a glimpse of the saint. A few hours passed, and she finally saw MT come out to the yard, and when they passed her, Theresa asked this woman "you look sad?" This was the final push of emotion, and with a breakdown, the woman sobbed, "I am not making a difference in the world just doing theatre, and I want to quit, and move to India and clothe the naked, and feed starving children!" Mother Theresa answered, "My child, my country is in a famine of the BODY, and yours is in a famine of the SOUL. Keep doing theatre, as you are changing the famine in this country." I was in tears....I needed to hear this. I felt like she was speaking to me. It made my weekend.
All in all, I am feeling a bit of the winter blues, and although things are moving, and are moving well, I am in a bit of a strange place. I want to move on, and do what I LOVE doing, but I am also finding the joy and love of teaching, and damn Mother Theresa telling me that I am making a difference puts me in a lurch. UGH. I will just keep my eyes open, and use Ms. Bogarts advice and follow my pulse to the next adventure. BUT, Disneyland is only a few weeks away. :)
Advice/Words of Wisdom: Sometimes people, even Mother Theresa can make the good bad, and bad ugly, and the ugly.....beautiful. It's all a matter of perspective.
