Sunday, October 23, 2011

Consolation

Thank you to the friends who came out to hear the first reading of Consolation.  


And now, some background...

The title comes from the Jesuits.  In the Jesuit tradition and charism, consolation refers to those things, people, moments in life that bring us closer to God.  The "chills" moments, as Jim Martin, S.J. refers to them.  Moments when we can literally feel a presence surrounding us.  Whatever name you have for God- great!  We are all ultimately unqualified and unworthy to name Him/Her anyway.  In its simplest form, that is consolation.  By that logic, or dare I say faith, desolation is the exact opposite.  The darker moments.   The moments when we feel completely alone, abandoned.

Consolation and desolation are active in all of our lives.  In Consolation: A Play, a family (the McPhersons) struggle, in the midst of desolation, to find what consolation means to each of them.  It is a story of drugs, addiction and pain- sure.  It is also a story of faith, love and joy.

I hope to see the story staged at some point in the future and look forward to having all of you loving friends, whom bring me consolation, along for the ride!

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Back at it...

Forgive the hiatus.  In the interest of full disclosure, I'll also admit that my motives for returning to blogging are purely experimental and selfish.

For one, I am trying to learn more about SEO 9Search Engine Optimization) which is not at all interesting to anyone who doesn't know about that, so--- moving on.

From a selfish standpoint, I'm trying to advance me career.  What career, you ask?  Good question.  I guess I should bring you up to speed...

Long gone are the days of Director of Campus Ministry at Norwood-Fontbonne Academy.  I left my post there in June (and stopped getting paid last week) to pursue a full-time life in the theater; acting, writing, directing, etc.

I'm stoked by my latest decision.  I'm also scarred out of my wits.  To put it lightly, my financial security is gone.  As such, I'm turning to odd jobs to help support my lifestyle.  Things like freelance writing, blogging, voice work, etc. have become a new part of my life.

I've moved down the shore (temporarily) to focus on playwriting.  I'm almost finished the first draft of my new show.  When writer's block was rearing its ugly head, I switched over and began writing a novel about a pre-teen's struggle with self-knowledge and bullying.  I'm proud of them both, so far.

Well, there's my update.  It's good to be back in the blogosphere (we'll see how long this stint lasts) and I'll catch you on the flip side.