Slings and Arrows…and Ethereal Gifts

Being the leader of an arts organization is often a perilous enterprise.  It is rife with uncertainty, risk, stress, and the oddest dilemmas imaginable. 

There are days when the barrage of “slings and arrows” that come our way is so dense that even my persistent artistic hide is pierced.

On such days I am reduced to longing contemplations of a blissful, solitary existence, where I will quietly craft small, whimsical items out of nutshells, pinecones and beetle carcasses, and sell them to collectors of tiny curiosities.

This is how I will eke out my living, and find peace and serenity, and a blissful lack of daily traumas. 

However, there are other days, when the Muses conspire to prevent my flight to a remote, curiosity-carving cave, by barraging me not with slings and arrows, but with a veritable shower of ethereal “gifts” that heal up my pierced armor, and keep me marching forward.  

Recently, in my third day in rehearsal for King Lear, was just such an occasion. 

I spent eight hours in rehearsal with a group of extremely talented, smart and funny people, discussing the intricacies of one of the greatest works of literature ever-penned. 

While that may sound like a yawn to many people, it was far from it.

It was more like a provocative, hilarious Comedy Central marathon, where the comedians just happened to crack an inordinate amount of King Lear jokes.

The conversation was not only lively, witty, bawdy, probing, and perceptive; it was also at many moments, revelatory and moving. 

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