Museum Café Lattes
January of 2023 feels like ages ago. I spent New Year’s Day at the Art Gallery of Ontario wandering at my own pace before walking home in the rain. I had a latte and one of those overpriced pastries at the museum café for lunch, which added to the vibratory energy of the day. A new year!
If 2022 gave me new found independence, 2023 offered peace throughout an ever changing year.
In the spring, I directed within a season I helped plan with the theatre company. I continued to enjoy Toronto.
In the summer, I got to stage manage on the Virginia Beach oceanfront. As a bonus I also helped develop a new work for the company.
In the fall, I was onboarded as an adjunct… and put scheduling classes on hold while I headed to Ohio to guest direct at a different school. After a long and joyful Christmas break, we’re heading back to the rehearsal hall to finish what we started.
Some highlights of the year:
moving in with new friends and enjoying all the perks of a happy girls’ house
the sweetest goodbye from the R Bar team when I left Toronto
reconnecting with an old college friend and getting to see him produce his own work
seeing friends from high school all together for the first time in five years
showing my oldest friend around Toronto when she came to visit me
getting a talking to from my rheumatologist, getting serious about my rest, and enjoying 6 months of medicated remission
petting Chloe, the golden retriever, on her way to her daily run in the ocean while we set up our outdoor theatre gear
briefly alleviating the long distance aspect of my relationship and seeing Vince in a show (for the first time since 2021)
watching so many auditions, self-tapes, and shows; enjoying the fun of performers bringing life to a script
attending three wonderful churches through out the year: my home church from growing up, the big city church that will always feel like home, and the church plant where I’m planting new roots
I’m excited to see what highlights lie ahead in 2024. I’m typically a believer in resolutions, often selecting something small and achievable. I like this year’s trend of listing our Ins and Outs for the coming year:
Ins
starting a blog (eh)
stretching before you feel stiff
reading more plays
Outs
starting water intake at 3pm
missing your vitamins
screen time before bed
The biggest out for me this past year has been worry. With change, I’ve had a thousand little opportunities for fear.
I know I should quit this survival job, but I don’t have another one lined up. I know I should take this contract but what if it gets in the way of another opportunity later. But gently and with His humour I’m reminded, “As if worry could add one hour to my life.”
Spoiler, God worked it out better than I imagined (even if confirmation comes later than I prefer). After 2023, I have that much more assurance He’ll do the same in 2024. Like the hymn sings, “How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er;” the boast is only a confession. I can’t prove myself, but in my weakness see Him proved in me.
Wishing you a sweet, new year.
