34 I've missed updating this blog! The truth is there are moments where it is tough to balance regular blog updates with student life but, I won't bore you with the details but new updates are here and to you the reader that's probably what's more important. What keeps me coming back is I love this blog like my own child and in a metaphorical sense of the word it is like my child. This June marks the fourth anniversary of the day when I went "hey I know I'll start a blog". That will be yet another day of rewarding myself for one of my good ideas that had good results and, I'm starting to realize that the fourth year anniversary is coming quickly.
A year ago I was in my first play in two years and the year that this blog started was the first time I had performed in a professional theatre and had one of my plays performed in front of others. What I didn't realize what a good job I did at getting myself out there until today when I overheard a conversation where a head of a prestige theatrical institution who goes to tons of theatre year round pointed me out to someone else as I was walking by as someone whose "in theatre". I've spent the last couple of years of a majority of my spare time volunteering at Fringe and Summerworks (for networking purposes), participating in whatever independent or student theatre productions (or festivals) I could, performing at open mics, and (of course) writing this blog. There's nothing more flattering then hearing that it all paid off and I had managed to gain a reputation as someone who was always in the middle of it all. It's been a great year in terms of the stuff I've managed to get myself involved with artistically and will soon be a part of. It all started with (move)me.ant and the fact that my classmates and I got the chance for out play to be streamed all over the world and get an audience that goes beyond the Glendon community and then I was part of an ambitious movement piece at my student theatre festival that allowed me to try a type of theatre I'd never done before but respected. The cool thing is that this summer will be my Fringe festival debut as a member of the Fringe festival's 100 program, filled with the what they are calling " 100 of the next generation of theatre entrepreneurs" where I'll get the chance to organize and perform street theatre, participate in guerrilla style theatre marketing campaigns as promotion, lead talks on theatre, gain mentorship from theatre professionals and fringe staff, and have VIP access to Fringe shows. Recently I read an article in Broken Pencil on Emma Healey, an indie artist whose a poet and runs her own lit magazine and it made me have my doubts that perhaps I wasn't accomplishing enough. We are extremely close in age and I never knew that until recently and my high respect for her as an artist made me up until now think that she was a lot older than me. The moment I read that she was not working on a English and creative writing degree but she also had some books published, wrote for Broken Pencil and she owned her own lit magazine and we're close in age made me think that something was wrong with me for not being nearly as successful. Because we were on the same path and a similar age but, I realized how wrong as I was and that perhaps it was just jealousy. It helps to have connections and she comes from a family of established writers so that might of helped. I have nothing against Emma Healey and I regret my jealousy. I learned that no matter what there is always someone more successful that gets things easier and it ties into that cliche expression "the grass is always greener on the other side". It's good to once again be a part of the artistic community: it reminds me of what gives life meaning: that's an important thing: to find what gives life meaning.