The thing I’m reading: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

This book was recommended to me by my girlfriend. I’ll admit I was a little hesitant at first but I came to love it. Its somewhere between a self-help book and a love letter to the creative journey. Gilbert explores what it’s like to be in a relationship with creativity and imparts her thoughts on how to embrace and find fulfillment within it. I was especially drawn to Gilbert’s vehement denouncement of the idea that you must suffer for your art. Even more controversial, the idea that your art need not be taken too seriously or deemed important. Her thoughts on living as a “trickster” instead of the martyr will stay with me.

The thing I’m pondering: The Shape of a Story

Let’s say we are trying to convey a lesson. Most lessons on their face are very simple. At its most exposed this lesson is like a square: neat and easily understood. “Smoking is bad,” “Don’t hurt people,” etc. But here’s the catch: squares are boring. No one will remember our square among all the others. So what we do we do? Well as with most good lessons we tell a story, we imbue the lesson in a context that is engaging and memorable. The more unique and detailed the story, the more chances we have to engage our audience. But once again there’s a trade-off. The more complex we make our story the less clear our once tidy square becomes. It becomes a Rorschach Test, shaped by our story and guiding our audience to our lesson through personal interpretation and deconstruction. Perhaps then the more deliberate we are in our storytelling, the more representative our inkblot becomes. (Full post on this coming soon!)

The goal I’m setting: A Book a Week

Though fairly innocuous, it’s a fairly easy goal to fall behind on. Speaking it into the world here holds me accountable. 

The Chapter I’m closing: The New York Summer

I’ll post a full follow up on this but it’s crazy to think I’ve been here for a whole third of a year. This chapter has taught many lessons both in and out of the theater.