The Fall
I love the fall. It's my favorite season. I wonder sometimes if people who like to be organized like the fall cause it's kind of a time to get schedules going and have everything in it's place. I love the beauty of fall too though. The colors and the temperature. It always makes me feel settled and peaceful.
This fall I am going to be working with Jesus Culture Music doing a record with them. I first was interested in them after hearing Kristene Meuller's CD because I so loved the production on it. Still I am listening to it and find something new that I like in the production. I will be working with Jeremy, the same producer, and this is one of the things I am most excited about. He's very talented and I enjoy his work.
With the dance company - well I am actually on the plane right now on my way to LA for our last performance for the summer cast. We started in April and we are done after this show. Then I have a new cast starting to learn the work in a few weeks. Luckily Amanda, one of the dancers/teachers in the summer cast is going to work with me to teach the choreography because it takes a lot of time and energy to do that! I will be making some changes. Not totally sure how many yet. I mean I am kind of chomping at the bit to change a lot of it but someone brought up the idea that you want it to be that people who saw it and want to have it into their churches/cities actually get the same show. That, and the fact that to start from scratch - TONS of work. It would require time that I just don't have right now. Perhaps soon enough. I would like to zone in on a particular topic of "child soldiers of war" and "human trafficking" Very sensitive topics and a bit more narrow than the general heart of mercy topics that we are going after right now. I don't know for sure what to do there. I mean I like to create and I hope I'm not bored with doing the same thing we just did. THOUGH, I do think that there is a bulk of the choreography that is great and could stand to be seen a little longer. We'll see how it all develops.
The kids... Josiah is going into grade 3, Shekinah grade 2, Aliya still has one more year of preschool cause she's a beginning of the year baby. And little Cash is going to go to preschool 2 mornings a week. Sooo cute. He really wants to be a big boy with his siblings. It's very sweet. That will give me a slight bit of time to focus on some things that I have let slide this past year.
I feel like it's a new season, but then I always think that and then I'm surprised to find out I'm making one more lap around this mountain.
I know this - I am feeling some new things to do with the arts and the use of the arts in worship. I am still working to put language to it because I haven't actually seen it before. So I'm just closing my eyes a lot and picturing what it is and then trying to write and explain it. I feel like it's in "the womb" right now. The funny thing was, as soon as I started to feel this I got calls that week from some ministers saying "What are you feeling new in the arts? Let's do it" It's going to take a few brave leaders to try it out and see if it can fly or whether it's just too out there for where the church is at right now.
I have put my clothing line on pause for a while. It was really more a pain than anything cause I just didn't have the help that I needed in order to keep it going. But it's something that has no time limits. I can be old and design clothes. I can't be old and dance the same! And those of you who read this and say "you can dance when you're older..." um, have you seen me dance? Some of that stuff I can't see myself doing at 50, you know what I mean? There's just a time to step aside and know when your time is done and it's time to let someone else take over. I had someone tell me a few years ago it was time for me to hang up my dance shoes cause I was getting old... I did for a bit, but I gotta pioneer some of this stuff first. We'll see