Thursday, June 26, 2014

archives

Old Blog Site

http://blog.padraiclillis.com/2014/06/09/let-go-and--.aspx?ref=rss

Hopefully this is saved - if not, everything is temporary.


Everything is Temporary

Hey,

So - they say 'change is good'. I'm not sure who they are. I know I don't enjoy change. However, change is constant. Go Daddy decided to remove their blog services. I think I can save my old blog posts. I don't desperately care about letting them go - but sometimes I wrote about the successes of other people and lessons learned from working with them. I would like to save those.

For now - I am accepting that I have to create a new link to my webpage. Not even sure who reads the posts. But sometimes I need to write them and that seems like the place to attach them. Also, I liked the way the old ones were designed. And I can't create that link until I'm sure that the posts won't disappear. Though I believe they will. Because blogs - like theater, like everything- is temporary.

I am thinking about the temporary today not only because my old blog disappeared but also because a theater company I am a member of is going through a cultural change. We have been going through it for about six years, at least, but now it is coming to a head, where people are feeling the clear effects of change. In the discussion - there are words of revolution, and their are words working together to move forward, but what I realize is that what needs to be included in the conversation is change. We change as people. Our needs change. Our desires. And our abilities.

What was once a grassroots company has become a respected off-broadway company with over a 130 members. Some very prominent in the field. All very talented. The company wants the feeling of family, togetherness, support, and excitement that was there in the beginning. Like all of those things - they change over time. Remembering and honoring the past is important. However, it seems it seems important to also let go of the past while doing that. We can't hold on to them with fists clench tight. We need to know what was important about those times and figure out how to carry the lessons and feeling with us into the future.

I want this for my company as we move forward. Also, I need to remember that theater is vital. Plays are necessary. Especially in my life. However, they are temporary. I am currently directing Henry V - it is a large play. It is consuming a lot of my time. But come July 17th it will open and my job will be done. And by August 2nd it will no longer be performing. It will, I hope, be a pleasant memory. One that stays with me for many years as have other productions in the past. I know that I will carry with me the lessons that I learned from this play and apply them to future productions. Some I will have to learn again.

I had a thought to list all the things that are temporary but when my mind thought about the friends and family in my life that are gone. Their physical existence may be temporary but the feelings they created are not. They are lasting. As are the descendants from them a continuation of them. And the impact and lessons taught. We carry them with us. So...as I move forward to new projects, letting go of old blogs, and building new relationships, I hope to carry with me the good feelings, the lessons learned, and an excitement for what is coming.

Talk with you all soon.

Padraic