A tale of two halves

A tale of two halves. Today could have been a challenging day…but it wasn’t. I got up early and had a long kayak ride. I’m so digging the kayak thing. I think Im the fittest (well at least on the upper body) than I’ve ever been. Kayaking is so different from lifting weights. Lifting is made up a several excruciating short bursts of pain. While Kayaking is more of a slow, long, consistent methodical burn. Both are challenging and both have their rewards. What I like about the kayak is that it is so calm and peaceful. Its very meditative. Plus its nice that I can physically measure my progress by going a little further each day. Plus…on a purely superficial level. I got this cool ego boost today. I drive around with my kayak in the car. I put the front seat down and put the kayak in the back, and it fits perfectly. The problem is I can only have one passenger and they have to sit in the back. So as I was walking into teach the children in the acting class day seminar, I was reflecting on my kayak ride. How cool is a director that teaches a bunch of kids, that also goes Kayaking. That is a pretty cool life. Im very blessed. Max, with whom I had several great conversations lately told me, You do some really cool things over there. I don’t think anyone in the world could have given me a greater compliment. To have one of your children (especially with all the well-chronicled things that have happened) to be proud of their dad…well that simply is an answer to prayer. Another answer to prayer is that Max seems to be doing well. For all the complaining I’ve written about X…deep down, I know that she’s a good mother and loves the kids. That is all I can really ask for at this point.

So I had about 12 kids for my day seminar all ranging in age from 5-11. It was a challenge at first because they were very nervous about getting in front of the camera and each other. That lasted all of 30 minutes. The shy kids that didn’t want to even leave their seats at first, were the first ones to try to wrestle their way up to be part of the games. It was quite a transformation. Im using the tools that God has given me to individually enhance these kids lives in a small way. By building their self-confidence, esteem, and awareness, helps them not just in acting but life. The fact that they all had a blast in doing it, makes it even more worthwhile. I know I’m very good at what I do. The 6 hours I had teaching the class just flew by. Parents started coming by to watch their kids about 1.5 hours before the end of the class. They were all really pleased. The Bahrain Cinema Club where we were holding the classes gave us nice collared Bahrain Cinema Club polo shirts, mini-clap boards, keychains, and coffee mugs to give to the kids. I was really impressed with them. After the class most of the parents came up to thank me. They were all impressed with what they saw.

Then it was across town to the showcase for the other acting classes. First it was the teens in the Saturday class. We had about 40-50 people in the theater watching the performances. Despite a few minor technical glitches, it was a big hit. Manoj our editor did a great job editing together the clips, and Manu our designer made some incredible bumpers and graphics. I think the parents and the teens were blown away. After they all personally came up to me to thank me for the difference I was making in their children. Even the teens said the same thing. We had this very special emotional bond that will probably last a lifetime. I still fondly remember some of my more influential teachers in High School, I think I’ll have the same effect with these kids. I’m very honored to be in that position. Im incredibly proud. That’s when things took a downturn. I got this incredibly nasty text from one of my very unhappy adult students. Im not even going to give her a nickname. She was very unhappy with the course and let me know through a series of bad text messages. I showed some of the Texts to Simi…and I said…she’s talking to me like she’s my ex-wife. That got a laugh. I feel bad for this particular student. Some of the things she said had merit, but the rest of it she was venting. It’s sad when people are unhappy with their own life choose something else to channel their frustration out on. So I took what she said with a grain of salt. I’ll take to heart the valid points and leave everything else behind. I’ve taught just over 1000 students over my career. I’ve had two really complain about my style. That’s a pretty good record. Well the second girl came around in the end. But I have a feeling this complaining student would have complained no matter what the teacher. So now, emotionally I have a choice. Do I listen to the one criticism and let that affect me…or the 99 praises. I’ll stick with the 99 and let that define who I am as a teacher. I’ll still work on that one however.