My heretofore un-named job is with Crowded Fire Theater Company in San Francisco. I’m officially the new marketing director, though it’s a small theatre company so its pretty hands on all around. The skinny is that my good friends recently became co-artistic directors of the company which is now in its 10th season. Basically, I rode their train in. Can we agree not to tell them that I have limited knowledge/experience for the position I have assumed? Actually, it’s been a very exciting and stimulating few weeks. We’re trying to bring the company into this decade with a major website face-lift in May. If you visited that link above, check back in for changes later. (Don’t worry, I’ll do another shameless self promotion post when the time is right.) We’re also amping up the e-marketing, striving to go paperless, which includes a new monthly e-newsletter written by yours truly. Oh, and all the while, we’re still going to produce some striking theatre along the way.
My work puts me in SF two to three times a week. I’m loving actually leaving the house to go to work, engaging with theatre and just being in the city. I take BART in and am reminded a bit of my old NYC routine. Don’t get me wrong, working from home has been great in a lot of ways…so flexible, easy and not at all stressful. However, I was starting to feel a little isolated and less than enthused about the work I was doing. Even when I started teaching some residencies, I was having trouble feeling connected. These first few weeks in this position have been the exact opposite. I am actually eager to jump into each project. I don’t know if it is simply the change of routine, the fact that I actually get to have conversations with other adults about something other than child rearing, the steep learning curve and challenge of it all, or if it is a career that actually suits me, but for right now I’m happy with the decision to give it a try.
If you had asked me ten years ago if I would still be flailing around to find a career at 34, I would have been insulted. I’m still flummoxed by my inability to find something that feels totally right for more than a few minutes. The only explanation I can come up with is that 10 years ago, I would have been 24. I was living in New York. I was an ‘arteest,’ an actor. That was how I defined myself. It was not my job (never mind the fact that the day job was something all together different), it was who I was. Ever since I stopped acting, I think I’ve struggled with finding a new career because nothing has ever felt as all encompassing as being an actor did back then. Of course no one could tell me at 24 that my life was actually quite simple. It felt so HUGE, so complicated, so very dramatic. My life right now is so NOT dramatic, but probably a little more complicated. I think I’ve discovered that my self definition isn’t wrapped up in just one thing…it’s a combination of many. I’ve still got a bit of the artist in me, but I’m also a mom, a wife, a writer, an educator, a listener, a friend, and I guess for today, I’m also a marketer. Life is a balancing act, isn’t it?
Opened THE LISTENER this weekend. Always a relief to get a show up and running. Many thanks to Mr. Hurwitt for the lovely review. Still running like mad to get butts in seats…that’s my job after all!
Oh, and my hair isn’t short…it’s just pulled back.