Saturday, August 16, 2008

Chapter One: The Heroe's Journey

I have arrived in Boulder and there is a ceaseless rain pouring from the grayest of skies. I am not sure if this rain is meant to make me feel more at home or more homesick, but I could do without it. Everyone here promises me that it never rains, and this is some kind of freak incident. This adjusting time is hard, but my heart was warmed the other day listening to the opening lines read by Joseph Campbell on the cd recording of Power of Myth:
"We have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us. The labyrinth is thoroughly known--we have only to follow the thread of the hero path, and where we had thought to find an abomination, ,we shall find a god, where we had thought to travel outward, we should come to the center of our own existence, and where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world."
Perhaps it is a stretch to compare going to grad school with the hero's journey, but that is how it feels to me. Positively heroic, to have left my beloved home, fiance, cat Amos (aka "Mr. Bun Bun"), theater company and all things known, to voyage here to a land surrounded by Republicans of the reddest kind, a place where I know no one (though that is quickly changing), a place where I can change my destiny. This is why I love the line "where we had thought to travel outward, we should come to the center of our own existence". That is what I am doing here, and it is surprising how scary and sometimes lonely it is to travel to the center of one's own existence. It is an easy trip to avoid if you keep your life full of lovers, friends, work and play (or for some, drink and drugs, television and internet), but we all must make it eventually, maybe multiple times in this life.
I am working on two shows in the Boulder Fringe Festival, which just started last night. I am a bit terrified of fringe festivals, full as they are of one-person shows and completely un-curated performances. It is a bit of a Russian roulette to go out to these pieces. I know, I know, all performances have something to teach, yada yada. But given my experiences during the TBA festival (a place where your chances of seeing the best performance that is happening today are much greater), where I grow tired after about 7 days of constant stimulus, I know I must be moderate in my viewings or I will have no patience for even the good stuff by the end. I am intrigued by this fringe festival racket, however. It seems to be well attended and the artists get to keep all of the proceeds from their ticket sales. Could be some one-woman shows in my future...

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