Looking Back at 2018
At the end of last year, when I was thinking about the year I wanted to lead this year, I ended up choosing a word of the year. I wanted to be able to look back at my year and see a full, and fullfilling body of work, so I chose this word:
Consistency
To signal that this year I would have written a lot of plays and a lot of essays and done a lot of cool stuff. I did create a lot of work, but not in the ways I had been hoping to manifest.
This year… did not go as I had originally hoped.
This spring, I lost my job as a Content Manager. I was laid off and it was pretty horrible. I was lucky enough to be given a months notice to actively search, while still working, and I did end up with only 1 month of actual unemployment. Luckily, as I typically do a children’s theatre show in the Spring and I did have a paycheck from a February show I staged managed, so we were able to make it work. I ended up finding a remote Community Manager position in Seattle in May and I am still working there. The period in which I didn’t have a job also gave me the time to help my sister with her design of Women’s Theatre Festival’s Crumble. Without being mostly unemployed, I don’t know how we would have had the time to do it.
When I chose the word ‘consistency’, I imagined that I would have a consistent job, that I wouldn’t be overextended and panicked for the beginning of the year, so I would finally be able to make my work schedule consistent enough to make consistent artistic work. That didn’t happen the way I thought, but now, since I do work mostly on weekends, I do have a lot of time during the week to recharge and create. It worked out, but it’s definitely different. Knowing what I know now the word I would choose for 2018 is:
Re-calibrate
I had become comfortable and complacent in a job that was no longer working for me anymore. When things started getting weird, I lied to myself that this was okay and I was just freaking out for now reason. Losing the job was the chance I needed to get out of my comfort zone and try something newer and better. I had to change a lot this year and I had to re-calibrate the way I’m used to working and being and I think it has changed me for the better. I am very tired from this year and it was rough, but it was the course correction I needed.
Self reflection — over. Now, here is what I’ve done this year.
All that being said, I’ve done a ton! Despite lots of changes, I accomplished things in so many different ways. Here’s some of them!
Theatre
- Did a show at Manbites Dog– It was a huge career milestone as a Stage Manager and a theatre artist and I’m so sad that it’s closed. It was truly one of the best experiences and I loved being in that space with those people.
- Completed my first season as Production Manager for Women’s Theatre Festival (and served on first ever theatre board!): I trained and facilitated the productions of several shows throughout WTF’s season. One of them included Eclipsed by Danai Gurira. From assembling teams, explaining processes, and getting people through tech, it was an intense and tiring process. I’ve also been in board meetings which
is very new and interesting. I’ve been a boots-on-the-ground fixer (Seal Team Koop™) with Sarah and I’ve also been voting on board things. It’s very interesting and weird. - Wrote an Adaptation of Spurt of Blood by Antonin Artaud– I’ve had a
couple readings of excerpts with Sips and Scripts and it’s been pretty well received! I just need to actually get it workshopped.
Writing
My writing definitely wasn’t that consistent this year, but I definitely did end up doing a lot more than I thought! It is tough when writing is your job and also your side job, but there was a lot that happened! I also created this site (I actually reached out about it right after I was let go from my content manager job)
- Looking for Burma in the perfect cup of tea– Wrote this essay on tea and my grandparents and Myanmar for The Blend on Hello Giggles. \
- INDY WEEK– Excitingly, I started writing a couple of reviews for Indy Week, which is the publication I’d always turned to for the good stuff.
- The Outmoded Power Structures of Race and Gender Encased in a Strong Production of Love Letters Feel Sadly Contemporary
- Adding Eighteen Actors to Mike Wiley’s Blood Done Sign My Name Changes So Much More than the Length of the Playbill
- Theater Review: Some Stale Jokes and Skimpy Set Pieces Aside, Raleigh Little Theatre’s Convent Comedy Sister Act Is Habit-Forming
- PLUCKY MEDIA– Sarah and I started up Plucky Media again. I worry that it will never be super consistent, but I’m glad we get to write it. Here are some favorites from this year.
Games
What I’m most astounded by is how many games I ended up making this year. They’re all very small but I love them all. This is definitely what I did instead of writing essays or plays. Here they all are!
- to the stars– a cute twine game about going to space
- SweetPea Village– a cute self-care adventure in bitsy
- A Spot of Tea– a short tea quiz made in
flickgame - Poor Branwell– a gothic Bronte-
esque text-based casual-horror-romance made in twine - little gardens– a cute gardening puzzle made in puzzlescript
- this one goes out to all the ghouls– a cute lgbtqia+ ghost party made in bitsy
- ghost town– a cute western ghost mini-adventure made in bitsy
So… that’s what has happened this year
There are lots of things to look forward to! I’m continuing working as a remote marketer, stage managing Men on Boats at Justice Theatre Project, and hopefully creating even more work in the coming year. It’s always great to review and I’m excited for what the new year will bring!
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