EBCF is hosting The Business of Art Workshop in Oakland
...but it's all a process. This is what I'm learning right now. As I make a more conscious shift of focus in my career from being a jack-of-many-performing-arts-trades to more specifically owning the title of writer/composer, I am made keenly aware of how "process-y" it all is.
Folks who make a living in the performing arts are very familiar with that word: "process." We talk about our artistic or creative process. Our work undergoes a developmental process. And many artists are highly invested in the self-examination or self-growth process. (Has it ceased to sound like a real word yet? "Process... Process... Process") Most recently, I am learning that forging the career path I am on is a process as well.
I have the fortune of being an inaugural participant in Theatre Bay Area's ATLAS for Playwrights Program. I am also participating in a Business of Art workshop, hosted by the East Bay Community Foundation in partnership with the Center for Cultural Innovation. The goal of both ATLAS and Business of Art is that I form a practical business plan or career map for myself in order to reach a level of success which I define and desire. Now, I would say up to this point I have run a good business for myself. But I am seeing so clearly that there are many ways in which I can improve my business practices as a writer/composer. I am on the cusp of moving into a new stage in my professional or career-building process.
ATLAS at the Theatre Bay Area offices - I promise there are more people than the photo lets on.
Which has led me to begin this blog. With the changes occurring and the projects I'm blessed to be working on, you can imagine that there are a lot of thoughts and experiences I need to process for myself. I figure I'll capture some of these thoughts about my various processes - creative, career & personal - and invite anyone who wants to read about them to feel free to do so (Now, don't all flock to this blog at once...). And to drag the overused word to its virtual death, I am sharing these thoughts by using aword process-or. So, it all comes full circle. Or everything is linked. Or so it goes.
I'll end with another cliche: "The process never ends."
So this blog will go on forever. You're welcome.