Artistic Manifesto ... it all starts with a box

Hi again!

So, I said it would be 4-5 months before you hear from me again, but I thought I would pop in a little earlier than that!

Wearing the hats of administrator, teacher, student, and artist has owned me this semester - and I'm kind of loving it, lack of sleep and all. I will post pics/videos of the performances eventually (promise, it just won't be timely) but I thought I would share a piece of writing with you all.

I've been using a LOT of text this semester and doing a lot of personal writing that has in turn become creative writing. Below is my artistic manifesto that I started working on at the beginning of the semester and have continued to add to over the past few weeks/months. It is full of my values and beliefs, many of which others have said to me or I have preached to others. Enjoy!

My Artistic Manifesto

It all starts with a box

Before you think out of the box you have to start with a box 

It is held together with plain old scotch tape 

The box has boxes and bubbles and words and incomplete thoughts and has a bottom that sometimes falls out

The content makes the work or the work makes the contents

The contents mean nothing and everything

The box is intuition materialized … it creates grooves

Thinking is overrated and asking how is a very paralyzing thought … it creates ruts

Have a strong beginning and a strong finish and the middle will take care of itself 

Success and failure are relative

The only constant in life is change

Whatever sensation you are feeling, acknowledge it, and know that it will pass (and let it go)

Have 20-minute pity parties on a semi-regular basis to reduce external sympathy seeking episodes

Embrace panicking for extremely short periods of time, then MOVE ON and be like Nike, JUST DO IT

Remember that anger is an energizing emotion, make the best of it

You don’t have to know where you’re going to be on the right path 

Be authentic OR fake it til you make it OR fake it til you become it

Be comfortable in uncertainty i.e. have a lil' faith and trust

Practice mental reservations

Practice gratitude 

Practice productive procrastination  

Practice daily self-care 

Practice blind faith

Do it for yourself and no one else (yes,all of it)

Always ask, the worst answer you will hear is "no"

Always try to take advantages of opportunities, or you never have the option

The ultimate challenge (or ultimate to-do list, I can't decide) is: Process the past while living in the present and preparing for the future.

Art is what you can get away with 

Make the audience uncomfortable

Break the fourth wall

Gather information

Take it all in

It's an adventure

Everything in moderation

Eat chocolate daily

Be Patient, maybe too patient

Relax your shoulders

Stop clenching your jaw

Write

Create

Move

Find Flow

Play (a lot)

Breathe (consciously and often)

Speak (when necessary)

Find balance

Keep balance

Regain balance

Thanks for reading! (see you this summer when I write about my semester and my many travels!)

- M

I'm Alive!

Hello Blogging World!

Remember how I said yon probably won't hear from me for 5 months because I started grad school? Well, it's been 4, but all the same, I'm back, momentary, for an update, then it will probably be another 4-5 months until you hear from me again.


So, let's review...


- I started grad school and completed my first semester with above a 4.0 (because A+ equals a 4.3 or some silliness like that)

- I preformed in a mainstage show that opened the season in September with the band People Get Ready - It was awesome! Plus I got to bang on a wheelbarrow with a drumstick (they only let me have one drumstick) which Daddy would have thought was so cool!

- I choreographed a piece in the grad show ... it was alright. I may expand upon it for a full length show in an art gallery at some point. For now, that piece need to rest.

- One of my favorite classes we had was where improv musicians came in and we all improv danced to them - there was an incredible energy that could be felt in the room. We also danced to Burning Ring of Fire  which was randomly wonderful.

- I was asked to photograph an immersive dance theatre performance, which was incredibly flattering when I look at the talented photographers I was asked with. The most amazing part, is they will be part of a documentary and presented at a national conference this summer (ahhhhh!)

- I got a cat.

- I've learned a lot about myself which I was expecting having done this grad school thing before, but it wasn't the stuff I thought I would learn. I won't bore you with the details.

- I went to Seattle and it was the most amazing and timely mini-vacation I've ever taken. It will likely be repeated.

- I discovered journal articles my grandfather wrote as far back as the 50s which were just unreal to read. Some of his statements are just timeless. I thought he only wrote about death and grief so it was a pleasant surprise to see his writings on the philosophy of education and on educators I am also studying. Gramma asked me to cite one of his articles in my papers ... one day I will try, but this semester it was more about fast and efficient survival.

- I met AMAZING people! I feel so lucky to work, dance, and simply be around all whom I have met and got to know better in the last few months.

- I got a job teaching yoga and zumba at a fitness center. And I'm going to quit said job at fitness center because I think I will be much happier in a small, local studio setting than a gym.


I think that sums up the past few months...I feel like I'm missing things...I left out the not so positive stuff (I reframed all that junk in the "I've learned a lot about myself" sentence). I've also had a great number of other opportunities crop up this semester but won't happen until spring or summer. I'll share those as they occur ... or perhaps more in this list fashion again.

Princeton and I curled up on the couch.

Oh, I'm in Maine right now and will be for another 48 hours or so, so I will post about my memorable stay here (i.e. no power, frigid temperatures).

Until then, Happy New Year everybody!!

Thanks for reading!

- Molly

Two Years In AZ

Hello Reader,

Two years ago today I took a one-way flight from Maine to Arizona.

Life sure looks different these days compared to when I moved out here.

New job, new apartment, started school, got a cat, and I've changed a lot while carving out this new life.

I never would have guessed that this is where I would be - and I mean "where" in all ways, shapes, and forms. But, no regrets. I am happy and content with all that has happened in the past two years. I have met so many incredible people and had amazing opportunities since moving out here.

Yet, I feel like that's just the tip of the iceberg for what this place has to offer me. I don't think I would have consciously chosen to move to AZ, but this happenstance approach has really been working for me.

Thanks for reading!

- M

Lame Yoga Epiphany

Hello Reader,

Yoga tonight was awesome. I think I finally worked my way into whatever I am holding in my right hip, not sure what it was but damn those emotions flowed.

I found it quite difficult to make my way out of corpse pose tonight ...

... but when I finally started moving again, I had the oddest thought...

"I live here."

My inner monologue was like, "duh, Molly."

I was almost in tears as I came to a seated position to end the practice over the realization that I live here.

Clearly, it meant more then just live here (it's been almost two years, obviously I am aware I live here.) I think more specifically, it is that I have a life here. I am carving out a niche and I am in complete control. I do what I want when I want because I know what I need. Sounds rather self-centered, but I think it is more self-centering which is allowing me to become who I am.

That being said, I have carved a very full life for me here, perhaps to full??

Oh well, I'm happy.

I live here :-)

Thanks for reading,

- M

Post Yoga Thoughts on Letting Go

Hello Reader,

I have had yet another yoga epiphany, more of a mini one this time around I guess. I can't quite articulate what came from it, but I know something did.

This one came from focusing on my breath. I noticed I forcibly exhale, when instead, I should simply let go of it.

So, I took this and applied it immediately to letting go in the poses, which lead to some pretty deep hip openers, and hip openers lead to mega emotions. I'm not exactly sure what these emotions were in reaction too, especially since humans hold old emotions in the hips, but it felt good to let them go.

I've been noting where in my body I feel tension lately - it probably comes with the dance territory - and it certainly feels a tad-bit crunchy all over. Now I will focus more on letting go of that tension, not forcing it out. There's a lot more relief that comes with letting go than with forcing something out.

Thanks for indulging my mini yoga epiphany!

- M

Buh bye summer ... Hello dance degree!

Hello Reader,

So, summer is over and on Thursday I will be starting my MFA Dance classes! I have been waiting years to be able to say this! I cannot wait for classes to start! I got my first textbook! (Notice that the title isn't entirely in English ... and I paid for it in Euros ... so that's a first)

I've been preparing for the start of the semester for the past few weeks by soaking up as much quiet, relaxation time as possible. I thought of trying to accomplish my "Summer To Do List" but that was a giant fail, oh well. Regarding the work world semester prep it is well underway (supposedly done?), and welcome week festivities have been happening all weekend.

I took a little hike up "A" Mountain this morning (which is a small-ish mountain located practically on campus) and was surprised to find the large amount of people doing the same at 6:30 a.m. - I'm assuming they were families of new students who were banished from the move in process by their newly independent, entitled college children.

Soon the "A" will be painted white and then gold again by the thousands of new students to represent a new beginning. It's tradition to have all new students hike up the mountain to paint it in triple digit temperatures (and an unofficial tradition to have a few dozen student sent to the ER each year with heat stroke or dehydration. Welcome to the college in the desert). 

I attended my first orientation as a grad student this past Thursday ... not gonna lie, it was rough, and looooong. I prefer to just drop my students off at these "info sessions" and leave. I don't think there was anything that happened in those 4 hours that could not have been accomplished in a few brief emails or online video. Speaking of videos, we had to watch this one and then were promptly given the "what it means to be a Sun Devil" speech ... so that was an experience ...

I was having a slight twinge of dread with the idea of start of the semester craziness happening. I didn't think I was ready for the 73,000 students to return to this campus, but then  I looked out my office window  last week to see a group of film students shooting their senior capstone film - and no, classes haven't started, and no, they weren't doing it for credit, they were doing it simply because that is where their passion lies. It was a perfect reminder of why I am in education and the performing arts. Seeing students in action doing what they love makes me very happy. And knowing that I'm going to get to be apart of the  academic art scene now makes me even happier!

I'm gonna be a grad student again!!!!

(You probably won't hear from me for at least 5 months)

Dance MFA! Woo!

Thanks for reading!

- M

Yoga/Life Philosophy

Hello Reader,

I have - yet, again - a late night, post yoga blog post to share with you. I'll try to keep this one brief.

This thought began to develop while I was trying to tune out the Miley Cyrus music the instructor had chosen for tonight's practice. She had some really great song choices, however, Miley was a low point. 

Anyways, I found tonight's practice somewhat disjointed and I decided to analyze why I felt that way while bouncing from ridged pose to ridged pose.

The focus was on the poses - getting to them, holding them briefly, and then on to the next. There was little discussion of how to get from one to another, why this pose is what it is, or proper alignment for safety purposes (can you tell I've taught yoga and had a supervisor who stressed the importance of safety in ones practice?) When I whittled down this unease I had with the flow of the class, it was simple; there was no attention paid to the transitions or the journey of the practice. The transitions from pose to pose in yoga is where the real work comes in, it's where you grow and deepen your yoga practice. She did not allow any of that to happen in her class. Skipping that journey is cheating yourself out of developing as a yogi and reaching your full potential.

So let's take the above paragraph and apply that to life.

I was looking specifically at my life since it is the one I'm living and can easily apply this to. The theme to my past few month has been change, I'll lump transitions into that too, and that was what struck me as missing from tonight's class. I feel quite strongly that a whole-heck-of-a-lot of personal growth, and self development has accompanied all of life's happenings. I think people need to take things slow in times of change to harness the power that transitions give us to learn. I don't see many benefits from just jumping from one thing to the next. It's like what I said above, "Skipping that journey is cheating yourself out of developing as a yogi and reaching your full potential" except replace "yogi" with "person."

In yoga, I believe the instructor is there to offer guidance in the practice specifically in allowing space for smooth transitions from one pose to another. Now, I know this is not exactly how life always works but hopefully there has been someone along the way giving each of us the resources and strength to get through transitions even if the journey is a difficult solo experience. This way you know when to breathe through a situation, muscle your way out of a challenging change, dig deeper for the inner strength you need to float through the next step, or simply surrender to things you can't control. I think these are all lessons worth carrying off the yoga mat.

...

So much for being brief, huh? Oh , well.  Sorry!

Thanks for reading!

- M