Why dreams? When I was in my late teens (so around 20 or so years ago) I joined a dream group. We met once a week, shared dreams, and took turns sharing our interpretations of other people's dreams. My mom reminded me that the group centered around the work of Jeremy Taylor, something I had forgotten all these years later.
When we would interpret the dreams of others we would always start with, "If it was my dream..." And the listener would be waiting for the "Ah Ha." Taking all the various interpretations listening for what resonates. After all we were attempting to dig into the subconscious mind.
In the years that followed I've studied various religions, the imagery of the Tarot, Carl Jung, and just about anything I can get my hands on to help me write my fantastical worlds.
It struck me some time ago that if we approached all conversations as "if this was my dream" we might be able to all start talking to each other again. And more importantly, we might be able to gain a greater understanding of each other. And so "If Life was a Dream..." was born.
I often joke that when I grow up I want to be a writer. What I should say is I want to be a paid published author, because I'm already a writer. I'm also what would technically be considered a grown up. I've been married over 15 years and have two beautiful daughters. I've owned a house, lost a house, started a business, lost a business, declared bankruptcy and rebuilt my credit. I’ve been broke and also worked to have money in our savings accounts. I was also lucky enough to work for the same company for over twenty years (and then the pandemic hit, so we’ll see).
For years I worked in the mystifying and intriguing world of Stage Management, where I accomplished the impossible with regularity. That is not a comment on my personal abilities as much as it is about the job itself. For anyone who has worked as (or with) a Stage Manager, you know that to be true. We bring order to chaos, at least the good ones do. I did that until I took a leap of faith and joined a team that invests in the next generation of artists and dreamers. It gave me to chance to take on challenges I never thought possible, and project manage things totally out of my comfort zone (let’s just say computer programmers are a lot different from performers). And that lead to a crazy job, basically created for me, where I got to lead all kinds of projects I can’t talk about… including a construction project! Which as a Theater Major that seemed like the biggest stretch yet.
And now here we are in a pandemic that has stalled out all the things I do for the company I usually do it for. No better time than now to refocus on my writing.
I spend my time translating a lifetime of skills into an ever changing world and making connections no one else sees. Using my Stage Management skills to bring order to the chaos. Because if life was a dream, and it was my dream...I've got a lot of work to do.