On Removing the Dam From My River of Creativity

This weekend I am at the Virginia Theater Association Annual Conference. I have been surrounded all day by "drama people". Several thousand (it seems) of those "drama people" are also teenagers. Interesting.  I have also encountered some odd adults..... older "drama people".  Even more interesting.

All day for the first two days (today and tomorrow), aside from breakout sessions for learning how to be EVEN MORE DRAMATIC, high school One Act teams are taking turns performing their plays. There are 44 high school teams in attendance. Between getting here, which is where the sporting part of this competition takes place, and finding rooms...eating lunch...and tracking the group I'm here to keep control of.... I've seen 3 plays. Again..... Interesting.

Soon after I took my seat in the auditorium for the first show, a very odd bird-like woman sat next to me. After a couple of seconds of sitting there she looked right at me and said, "Well, hello there" in an odd sing-songy voice. She went on to ask if I was a teacher or chaperone. When I declared my chaperone role she asked if I planned on attending shows or breakout sessions too. I shared that I would be solely watching shows. Quickly she broke out her little book of all the things going on and pointed me to a breakout session just for parents. The title is "My Student Wants to Study Theater in College: What Do I Do Next?" .  When I assured her that my "student" wants to get a life and a real career she practically snarled at me. Good times.

People watching is premium here. There are people everywhere! It's better than the mall at Christmastime.  I'm feeling somewhat startled at myself that I'm not downstairs right now just sitting and watching. I haven't really felt like it. I have a theory.

A few weeks ago I was sharing with a friend that I used to be very creative. One day, though, it just left me.  I've really struggled with that because it was something about myself that I really enjoyed. Being in this environment has made me somewhat mourn my creativity. Although there have already been wonderful benefits from living this "new life", I'm certain that the return of my creativity might just be ushered in as well.  That will be fun! This weekend definitely has sparked the "want" for me to unleash my creative side. In the interim, though, being surrounded by really creative people feels very unnatural.