Finding the value in the hard days
Oh, hi friends!
My brother ran around this weekend and clocked 25 miles over two days while working.
A friend spent much of her vacation creating a presentation for a big job she’s in the running for.
Another friend is applying for job after job after job trying to get a new gig.
And I revised my artistic statement to apply to yet another opportunity.
Each of these circumstances made me think of the same thing:
We are constantly prepping ourselves for the next big step.
As long as you keep working and trying and making attempts, you are proving to yourself what you can do in the present. And those attempts—that practice—makes you even more prepared for the future.
“While I can see the benefits of learning how to write, or improving your skill by writing all the time, I also think there’s something to be said about writing what you want when you want to write it. And not feeling like, ‘I’ve got to write this thing that this editor came up with and they thought of me because of my identity politics, or because I’m from this small town.’ That can be too limiting, especially for marginalized writers. I think it dulls the shine of what we do.”
An important reminder from New York Times editor Jazmine Hughes that you can choose what you want to write—or create. That it can be something you choose to do, rather than what you have to do. (Sidenote: I once pitched Jazmine a NYT story and got the nicest “thanks but not for us right now” from her and I’ve followed her career with interest ever since. Don’t tell me how we communicate and being nice doesn’t matter. It always does!)
Double Play Recommendation Alert!
I really loved the musical Carmen Jones, up now at Classic Stage Company and extended until August 19. Oscar Hammerstein II took the score from the opera Carmen and wrote a quasi-love story set during WWII. Such a talented cast in a beautiful and tragic narrative. And the singing! My goodness, the singing! (Get your tickets here!)
And I also want to recommend Wallace Shawn’s Marie and Bruce playing at JACK over in Clinton Hill in Brooklyn. Directed by Knud Adams, this version stars Gordon Landenberger as Bruce and trans actress Theda Hammel as Marie. Hilarious and disturbing and very inventive staging and lighting. I wanted to go home and read the text immediately. Runs through July 28! (Get your tickets here!)
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Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara