Americans for the Arts posted a summary from the Arts and Science Council’s emerging leaders program session entitled “For Women by Women: No Really…Things We Wish Someone Had Told Us at 25.” The post reminded me that a month or so ago, my colleague and friend Vickie Scott from UC Santa Barbara asked “What are the 10 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I Was Just Starting Out?” It was late when I received the email request and I hastily dashed something off to her. Lightly re-edited, and in no particular order, here is my list:
- CARPE FUTURUM
- Your life outside the theatre is more important than your work inside the theatre.
- You don’t have to live in NY/work on Broadway to be a successful theatre professional.
- Just because your union sets a minimum scale doesn’t mean you have to accept that minimum.
- The people you meet in college and grad school will be your friends and collaborators for the rest of your life.
- It’s better to learn from the mistakes you make than to avoid the risk of making the mistakes in the first place.
- Sometimes, you have to just do it.
- If you can keep your eyes open to unexpected opportunities, you may see unexpectedly positive results.
- Knowing how to read music and speak a second language will serve you well.
- THERE IS NO RUSH
Today, #6 is my favorite but that could change tomorrow.
[PS. #11 is from the end of Craig Lucas’s Prelude to a Kiss. “Old Man: Can I give you two a piece of advice? Floss.” What’s on your list?]
Carpe Futurum temporary tattoo from Tattly. Design by Kelli Anderson
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This is wonderful! A needed read today.
#9 sounds intriguing, how so?
Many ways. For one, we live in a global arts and culture community, the members of which speak many languages. Being able to communicate with others as equals seems important. We live in Arizona. Many of the people I work with — including my students — are bilingual. I wish I were, so that, for example, when I sit in a planning meeting to discuss a festival of Mexican-American arts and culture I can both understand all and be understood by all. I used to have enough knowledge of French to get by in Paris or Montreal, but I’ve lost it over the years. Music too has a language. In writing about that though, I was think a bit more specifically about my designer training. If a lighting designer is going to work in opera or dance, they darn well better be able to follow a score. More generally, it’s helpful when working with musicians to be able to understand some of the vocabulary of the field (true of dance, theatre, and visual arts, too). BTW, I credit my high school Latin with improving my English vocabulary and grammar.
Totally agree with you. It’s never too late to learn!