Im pretty tired today. It was a little frustrating. It took a half-day and a lot of emotional energy to do something that should have only taken an hour. Thus I didn’t get a lot of stuff done. I was a little bit bothered when I went over for class today. I think I vented a little on our sweet receptionist, that made a mistake. I’m trying to get the staff to start think pro-actively and not re-actively. Apparently being Pro-active is a western concept that is hard for other cultures to grasp. Thus we are always trying to fix things when with just a little effort before hand the problem could have been avoided.
So I went into teaching a little bit bothered, but it turned out to be a great class. I teach the children a little differently than I do the teens and adults. With the kids its all about playing and then trying to illustrate lessons in the midst of playing. I had an unexpected emotional result today. There is this one little girl in class that just seems to have a hard time paying attention or following the rules. She enjoys the class, they all do. But that is part of the problem. Because they have so much fun, they are a bit wild. I gave them an exercise where they had to say the same line twice, once happy and once sad, to illustrate that its not what you say…its how you say it for communication sake. So one person got up with a big smile on his face with an excited voice. “Everyone forgot my birthday today, no cakes, no presents, no ice cream. Nothing.” Then he did the same thing, only this time, sad and more believable. I’m trying to get the kids to embrace the concept of non-verbal communication through inflection and body language. So this one problem girl got up. She’s young about 7 or so. And she very gleefully said. “My dad died, he was in a car accident.” Then very seriously said…”My dad died he was in a car accident.” Then she added, “it’s a true story too.” She had this look on her face as my heart was sinking. “I don’t want to play this anymore.” She suddenly sat down. All these kids about 15 7-11 year olds were speechless, we didn’t know what to say. She just shifted gears and became the precocious little girl again. After the class, when her mom was watching with all the other moms, after the performance, she whisked the girl away to the other room to have a private talk. The whole episode helped me keep everything in perspective. How dare I be bothered again by anybody or anything. It really put me in my place. I can’t make judgments about people especially children because I haven’t walked a mile in their shoes. It’s a great learning experience for the future. I just need more God’s grace and patience in my life.
We had the adults next. I really like the adults class. Im in my element helping them. It’s a great forum to help share my world views in harmony with my acting instruction. Im really, by the Grace of God, a great acting teacher. Its nice seeing people light up when they know they are receiving the tools to improve themselves. We had a couple of visitors come in the class. One guy in particular I really enjoyed. He was an older executive that needed help with his business presentations. The principles of acting apply to business executives as well as actors. It seems we all have this dash of insecurity within us, fearing that our secrets of inadequacy will soon be found out by the world…and we will be outed. We are all the same that way. When we identify that its human nature to be insecure (because we have fallen out of relationship with God, and need God to feel truly secure and peaceful) in a group setting like that it relieves everyone and makes them feel safe knowing they are not alone. Im in a very privileged and unique position to speak into these people lives. I worked an 16 hour day today and I still feel fresh because I am doing what I was called to do…and that feels great.
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