The year that wasn’t or actually was?

Circa 2021

Happy New Year Friends!

With all the happenings within the theatrical and entertainment industry, let alone just the happenings of the world, many are sharing, more so now than ever, their thoughts on the past year and the year ahead. I wanted to take a moment and share a little of my thoughts on the past year as we look forward to the time when we get past the impacts of the global pandemic we are facing daily. There is no doubt we all have had to deal in our own ways the impacts of the global pandemic, and as a result we all have experienced good and bad from it.

Many are calling this the year that wasn’t. Shows cancelled, furloughs, lost jobs, food bank lines, illness, deaths, financial difficulties, and the list goes on. These moments have challenged us all to go into survival mode. I challenge us all to think with all the impacts locally, nationally, globally, was this truly a year for us that wasn’t? OR…was this a year that actually was?

A few things the last couple of days have sparked me to share the question. During a new year staff retreat with the Community Arts organization I support, we discussed the realization that we as an industry, organization, people, etc. are beyond the survival mode and have been more in the navigating mode especially recently. We all have been

challenged to find a balance with the impacts of the pandemic, and many refer to that as survival and I agree, the initial days and weeks of the pandemic were survival. We didn’t know who, what, when, where, how this would all impact us both professionally and personally. As we watched the nation and world go into lockdown that was intended to fix the pandemic, we figured out to survive such a surreal time in our history.

We quickly learned that the short time in lockdown would not combat the pandemic that continued to grow and impact our nation. What once was survival mode, quickly turned into navigating mode. Navigating became the new way of facing the pandemic. How do we return to day to day during a pandemic? How do we start our business again? How do we carry on with our livelihood? Just as we navigate the seas and the roads of our world, we needed to navigate the seas and roads of our lives and wellbeing.

Not to get political, that is NOT what my platform is for, but I want to reflect a moment that put things into perspective for me and hopefully you. The photo depicted below is of Andy Kim of Congress. This photo speaks so much to what we all have been trying to do during these, to his point, extraordinary times. He was picking up the pieces after something tragic to start the rebuild of something great and important to many. “If something is broken, we can work to fix it..” resonates so much to me right now cause that is what he did, what I did, what we did, that is what we are doing to not only help our industry, but help ourselves. We survived the moment, but then navigated through it, to fix it, to make it better, to make a difference.

“We are all ordinary people in extraordinary times…What I did isn’t special, it’s the same thing that drives us to volunteer at a homeless shelter or donate to a food bank: the idea that if something is broken, we can work to fix it.” - Andy Kim

So for me, it was the year that WAS more than it being one that wasn’t. We needed to find new and innovative ways to connect with friends, family, our community, and the performing arts. We discovered the importance of friendships new and old, the importance of family time, and grew closer to those individuals as we all leveraged each other to get through the day. We needed to adjust our priorities and focus on ourselves more than we ever have. Many of us have found new hobbies, jobs, task, and many continue to look and press forward through challenging career times making the best out of a situation that we cannot necessarily control.

For the performing arts, something that was broken, I began to work to fix it. I cannot fix everything, no one can, but I can be positive, innovative, and do what I say often, “SOLVE FOR YES.” Knowing this global pandemic wasn’t going away as quickly as we all wanted,

the local community arts groups came together to figure out a re-entry plan. I love what the performing arts stands for, what it brings and gives, and most of all the ability to express

ourselves within the outlet. Instead of waiting, we collectively began to work to fix it, and did, for now (Blog 10/4 talks about re-entry). We were even able to bring a full scale (pictured right), CDC compliant, masked, socially distant Holiday concert to the community kicking off a series of shows at the City Performing Arts Venue, outside.

We all survive moments and impacts initially, but it’s the long-term navigation after the initial moments that lent itself to building us stronger and shaping us for the future. We have been and continue to be in the navigating mindset. The learning, the determination, the connections, the love, the support, the willingness to challenge ourselves, all allowed this to be a year that actually WAS. We will return to normal at some point, sooner than later hopefully, but till that time, we must continue to do our part, take care of ourselves and each other, and most of all, be kind.