West Bromwich-rediscovering inspiration & taking initiative
Music to listen to this week, check out Barcelona by Ezra-I found it inspiring
Sep. 21-27
 |
| Flying Minion |
This past week has gone really well. We are camped in the
beautiful Dartmouth Park, and the weather has been very pleasant for England’s
standards, so I have had an opportunity to get my camera out and take in the
scenery. I have gotten to train a lot more this week, including getting to fly
again, since we have level ground. I even round-tripped off of Alistair (it
looked like a flying ninja kick hot mess), which though satisfying, needs a lot
of cleaning up. We had some good
team bonding as well this week and actually got to get out of the grounds for a
while, which is great since I can’t drive and usually have to stay within
walking distance. I also acquired a minion onesie! Endless joy to follow…
 |
| Ivy House |
 |
| Reflections |
I have been
doing a lot of thinking lately, and have been working on finding direction for
myself. I am starting to work on
who I am within circus and my role as a professional etc. I put together a rough draft of a demo
reel, went over quite a few older skills and got lots of footage this week,
which has helped me feel much more productive. I think I have always been hesitant to create acts because I
didn’t want to be disappointed in them or have them not live up to my grandiose
visions, but now I feel inspired to use all the time I have to create as much
as I can, even if some of the skills aren’t quite there. I have been watching all kinds of
aerial videos and brainstorming music all week. I also realized I now have time
to figure out some video editing and put time into making the technical quality
better, something I would not have felt that I had time for before. I is
refreshing to let my creative side run rampant a bit. I wish I had started the
act making process earlier on in my aerial aspirations.
Here is the link to the rough draft demo reel; although it
still needs a LOT of work, I would appreciate any thoughts and feedback 
Going more into the self-reflection I have been attempting
to do
Over the past year I have struggled to find answers to two questions
which always seem like they should be easier to answer: What makes me happy?
And what do I want? Although these
questions seem simple, they are quite complex. Happiness and desire are more than just a passing thought or
whim. Going into what one wants
digs into what one values, what guidelines you have drawn for yourself, what
priorities apply to your life. Does
being happy mean sacrificing one priority for another, does what I want have
more to do with the present or the future, does it have more to do with me or
others?
I recently completed a personality assessment as part of a
job application process and my results revealed how much I either think of
myself or want to think of myself as someone very different to who I actually
am. The conclusions of the assessment said that I feel restricted by routine,
am always sociable and very go with the flow-I am sure to some people in my
life this may seem to be accurate and I think a lot of times I would like to be
the highly extroverted, free thinker; however I am not. I work well in a structured
environment, I am happy when I have lists and deadlines. I naturally follow rules and socially
acceptable behavior (aside from going out in a minion suit). Somehow I think I mistake these natural
tendencies as making me boring.
But these tendencies are what have helped me succeed and focus. They don’t define me, rather they make
me aware of the way I will naturally operate and be happy. I can dislike change
and still find happiness in moving to a new city every week-as long as I still
maintain something of a daily routine.
I can be happy around people-as long as I have time to be productive on
my own.
I don’t have answers yet for the two questions I mentioned
earlier, but I think I am getting closer and have made progress this week. I also think one of the biggest
obstacles in finding answers to these questions is being brave enough to face
the answers. As cheesy as it sounds, being brave enough to dream, to admit you
do want something big and likely unattainable.
I applied this concept in thinking about my faith this
week. I decided to take my faith
out of the context of my belief and look at it from all the non-related reasons
I (and I am sure many people) have for maintaining faith.
- It adds purpose to life
- It gives structure and a way of breaking down situations that are otherwise difficult to deal with (though I think this one works the opposite way as well, since it sometimes makes it leads to more questions)
- Not believing would change all the logic and values established
- Not believing would mean that much of my time, effort and thinking has been wasted
There are more but I don’t want to bore you. Needless to say, I found it to be a
good exercise. I think it is
important to recognize all the reasons that are involved with faith aside from
the relationship. It is good to assess how much those reasons are factors
compared to where one actually is with God at the time. To ask yourself why you
believe what you believe and whether it is more because of external reasons or
internal reasons.
Side note on caravan life lesson:
 |
| Makeshift clothes drying |
Comments
Post a Comment