Valid Question

Having just returned from a pleasant trip to my home state of Minnesota where I rubbed elbows with people I used to work and drink with back in the day, I can't help but feel a bit confused.

It isn't just the nature of the market that is different in Minneapolis, but the nature of the artist. The culture in the MSP seems a touch more supportive of the artist. Here in NYC everything seems all business all the time. When does the craft enter the picture? This blog is part of my attempt to bring the craft back into my day to day existence. It is easy to loose sight of the craft when you are so busy trying to network and audition. Getting the job is a full time job. Sometimes you just can't take a job because you have to have enough time to get another job.

As Bruce McCullough so eloquently said in a classic Kids in the Hall sketch, "Sometimes the only thing worse than having a job is looking for one."

I've said it a million times over. It isn't the rat race in NYC that gets you down. It's finding fresh produce at reasonable prices, doing your laundry and a million other daily tasks that are so simple in other parts of the country but cost too much in both money and time to get done here. So I have to wonder what it is that I am doing here- especially when I find the scene I left so enjoyable.

They say you can never go home again and I am inclined to think that is true. I've tasted the history here and know there is an untapped vein of talent, voice and desire here. I just need to find a way to access it. If I went home, I'd be playing someone else's game. If I stay here I have an uphill climb, but it would be all mine. That is no small thing.

This brings me to two conflicting pieces of wisdom that have been thrown at me over the years. The first is "Work smart, not hard". I have a tendency to create obstacles for myself as excuses for my lack of success. Is living in New York a needless obstacle that I have placed in my own way because I never really believed I would make it anyway? The second is "Avoid the path of least resistance" because the more challenging path is the path toward growth. Wouldn't going back to the MSP avoiding the challenge with which I have presented myself? Clearly this is not an either/or situation that can be solved by applying some blanket concept or philosophy. Finding the right market/ environment for myself is of the utmost importance as it should be for any artists.

I guess I just wasn't expecting to find myself so easy to sway in either direction. Who knew my toast was buttered on both sides?

With that being said, I am thrilled to start rehearsals tomorrow for the New York production of a Minneapolis artists work. Maybe this is how I have my cake and eat it too.

I'll let you know how that turns out.