November 2018 UIL Middle School District Competition @ Chavez High School. And A Child Shall Lead Cast and Crew
It’s a been a while since I have written an entry but it is the new year and I have had this overwhelming push to write again. I had some time to get my footing as a theater arts teacher. I had gotten so focused on competitions, answering emails, and to be honest, SOCIAL MEDIA… that I didn’t create time to reflect on the whole process through writing in this blog. Maybe there was a part of me that wanted to appear that I had it all under control… when I really worried about every detail on how everything was going to turn out. I was still unsure on how I got here and there I was in the thick of it…
This past year proved to be a time to remind me to get back to writing… to start creating. Although it has only been three years…well 2 and half years of teaching… I had lost the desire to create. I got in the routine of getting up, heading to work (school), gym and then sleep. I didn’t prioritize my time to even write a short entry to just get things going. I don’t ever want to go back to that because to be honest I really don’t want to be teaching for too long. I enjoy inspiring children.. in fact, I have realized that I enjoy the directorial role, creating an intriguing dynamic between characters in interesting vignettes… but to be locked down in a school for 8 hours, 5 days a week is not what I want for too long… to be a retired teacher is not my life’s goal…to be working towards retirement of anything, really…
I was really inspired by Suzan-Lori Parks, one of the most innovative playwrights of this time. A friend of mine had taken me to see her… timing is everything. People come into your life to steer you back on course. I would not have ever known about this event if he hadn’t told me about it. God is good. So in the lecture, she talked about her journey as a writer. How she studied creative writing, which then led to her writing plays, motivated by James Baldwin, himself. Also, her time spent in New York, in which she wrote, directed her first play at a coffee shop. She didn’t have much of an audience but she did it. Her boldness and confidence in her talent sparked something within me…
During the Christmas break, I have been watching old films, particularly Green Pastures and Cabin in the Sky. Both films have a spiritual… biblical backdrop. Green Pastures breaks down the stories of the Bible from God’s perspective, giving you a sense of God’s plan, ultimately God’s love. Cabin in the Sky deals with the spiritual warfare that takes place in our everyday lives centered on a couple, Petunia, a devout follower of Christ and “Little Joe” who is struggling to leave his gambling ways to be more like Petunia. As I watch these films, I catch myself rewinding certain parts and looking at scenes over and over again. I laugh and take in the dialogue but something is stirring within me. The Work is a play I started a few summers ago. It deals with generational curses and the battle to overcome them…. kind of like the musical Carousel, in which the daughter starts to become just like her deceased father until his spirit intervenes to steer her off his dark path. I want to create something like these pieces. I want to create a piece in which we are reminded that the true battle is in the unseen.
I had always had a keen sense of spirit… I have felt the light… and even the dark. The battle is real. Relationships are his biggest desire to destroy. Friendships, Family, and Lovers.. the enemy hates it all. Thoughts of rejection, insecurities, comparison … it’s all part of his deceitful plan to break up unity. I want to create a piece in which we are reminded of our true enemy… or rather enemies (his crew.)
The play will not serve as a scare tactic but a call to love… to look beyond the negative thoughts that the enemy speaks to you… and be aligned to our true source. Speak to Jesus/God and activate his power to fight the darkness… He is the only way.
So here’s to 2019: To create more time to write and finish The Work…. the play and His work in me.
And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons for the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to finish against the Devil and his angels.
Ephesians 6:10 MSG