ISO Anagnorisis in Life & Art

Moments of Recognition as Creative Healing

I believe that the creative urge is a healing urge, (toward self-awareness and awareness of all that is) as a way for our deepest impulses to be seen, heard and recognized. Our creativity is a (re)membering as a kind of embodiment toward cognition (knowing consciously) what we tend to forget (the one-ness of everything and our selves). Art, music and theatre/storytelling are all means toward moments of recognition, and therefore, catharsis (relief aided by the release of emotion).

I’m late this week with the Substack. I’ve been out of town training to be certified as a Neuro-Affirming Coach by an incredible organization called AANE.org. So this week’s ‘stack is a bit shorter. I’ll cram my thoughts into the prompt instead of writing a little essay and a prompt. This week, it’s all one.

Writing Prompt:

For me, everything is a prompt. Everything makes me want to respond, and I respond in writing with language. Everything in life urges me to write, but your experience may differ.

I’m not trying to say that mine is the right/good/normal experience — I know it’s neurologically divergent. I’m trying to show you what I mean and how to use this idea (that everything is a prompt) for your own creative needs (whatever they are). I’m not going to call this a “Writing Prompt” anymore. I’m just going to call it a prompt.

Let’s begin with MOMENTS OF RECOGNITION, so fascinating, important, life-changing and cathartic. A moment of recognition was called anagnorisis in Ancient Greece. Aristotle used it when speaking of the moment onstage when a character realizes what they’ve done or is able to see clearly for the first time. Typically it’s pretty awful stuff like murdering one’s child in a frenzy or killing one’s father and then having children with one’s mother…

I’m grateful for Ancient Greek theatre for dealing with these topics since they make my own needs for healing feel much more mundane and help me forgive myself my own shortcomings. When people say, “who wants to read all my awful stuff?” I say, “who doesn’t?” It helps us all feel better about our lives.

In tragedy, this moment of recognition leads to a catharsis. It’s why we watch/read stories. It’s the best part. How will she react when she finds out x? What will he do when he realizes y? It’s what drives all dramatic structure. Even if we know the story, we are compelled to watch to see how this actor performs this anagnorisis. It is a moment that confirms in all of us our humanity.

We live in a society that would have us all hide our human parts, our stress, our cracks, our needs and our failings. And we ourselves have internalized this by creating a lot of negative self-talk, etc. I take a lot of that energy and funnel it toward self-discovery and self-awareness via writing (you might use clay or paint or a particular kind of dance or whatever you use: wire, cake batter, yarn, seeds…)

LIST for yourself (no one else has to see it) moments of recognition that have led to catharsis and perhaps transformation in your life. Homecomings. Home leavings. Graduations, levelling-up, beginnings, endings, threshold-crossings, dares, quests, challenges, etc. We all have them. They might have looked like regular life to you, but this is where your creativity kicks in.

ADD the sensory elements to the events you just listed. Make word clouds or maps or lists of all the senses (see my sensory list from way back when). There are way more senses than anyone ever wanted us to know…

Connecting to these moments and the senses involved helps to connect you to your most connected (to you) and connectable (to others) content and should help you be more content with your art. I mean, why are we doing it, if not to figure something out for ourselves?

ADD the world and your discontent too.

ADD the questions you worry about or sit with.

ADD all that you’d love to have answers for, and then don’t insist you find the answers.

Creating is about asking the questions and letting curiosity lead.

When we tell ourselves, “I wouldn’t know where to begin,” it’s not about where we begin; it’s always about letting the impulse lead us. It’s about learning to trust ourselves and allowing our messy attempt.

It’s about knowing that creativity is a process and a layering. Often it leads me to a deeper understanding of myself. Not because I’m smart or special—because I’m human. Anyone can do this. I highly recommend trying.

artwork by Scott Sherman, on instagram at ScottShermanStudio

Amazing people doing amazing things:

10/27 Cristina Rose Ashby conceived of and directs Poe's Children with original music by Thomas Burns Scully, a devised exploration of grief and poetry at the Frigid Festival, NYC

10/28 630pm - 830pm ET in person in NYC and live-streaming, Shoshanna Gleich will present a song and a film at Tibet House. If you miss it, it will be available to stream for a limited time.

10/29 & 10/30 Grief Dialogues with Elizabeth Coplan and Amy Reuben!

Thru 11/3: Urban Stages presents People of the Book by Yussef El-Guindi. Go - it’s gorgeous work!

I am celebrating two more poems accepted. “The Narrow Place” in the very beautiful Philly-based Wild Greens magazine. I’ll let you know when it drops! “Dear Palestine,” will be translated into Arabic and published in both English and Arabic in Toyon Literary Magazine this spring.

Opportunities:

In Chicago? Calling all playwrights (female and female-identified)! Beginning January 2025, Burnished Collective/Chicago will offer Zoom readings of plays by female and female-identified creatives 55 and older. Plays of any length; new – or - produced but warranting a Zoom read. Send by file attachment to burnishedcollective@gmail.com during this November. Questions: Contact burnishedcollective@gmail.com Please join the Burnished Collective Facebook Group if you're a female or female-identified creative over 55 - share information re your productions, exhibits, awards, job searches, publications - and learn about creative women the world over.

Jenna Lourenco is looking for Autistic Theatre People for a study Examining Environmental & Cultural Challenges to Autistic Accessibility in Theatre Workspaces" through the end of October 2024 at this link!

Due 10/31 Edward F. Albee Foundation Residency 2025 now completely ADA accessible is open to all creative people (writers and visual artists of all media) at this link!

Due 11/1, Premiere Stages at Kean Festival send them your work!

Due 11/11 - 11/18 Ojai Playwrights Conference will be accepting applications for their summer festival!

Due 12/15/24 The Orchard Project is accepting submissions for:

• The Orchard Project Performance Lab (link), for development of work intended to be performed in front of a live or virtual audience.

• The Orchard Project Greenhouse Program (link), for collaborators generating new works and collaborations in a multitude of forms;

• The Orchard Project Episodic Lab (link), for writers working on the advancement of original TV scripts;

• The Orchard Project Audio Lab (link), for early development of scripts and ideas in the audio storytelling form.

Due 12/17/24 NYFA grant deadline for Playwriting/Screenwriting, Photography, Choreography and other disciplines for New York creatives.

The Playwrights Center in Minneapolis offers the following programs to apply to:

-Core Writer Program - open to any committed professional playwright, deadline in January 2025

-Jerome Fellowship - for any early career playwright interested in spending two years in Minnesota, deadline in November 2024

-Many Voices Fellowship - for any early career BIPOC playwright interested in spending two years in Minnesota, deadline in December 2024

-McKnight National Residency and Commission - open to established playwrights outside of Minnesota, deadline in December 2024

-McKnight Fellowship in Playwriting - open to mid-career Minnesota-based playwrights, deadline in January 2025

-Many Voices Mentorship - open to beginning BIPOC playwrights based in Minnesota, deadline in December 2024

-Core Apprentice - open to playwrights in or recently graduated from undergrad and graduate programs, deadline in February 2025.

Brave Space Schedule:

10/27 Sunday 6pm ET Brave Space for All Humans
10/28 Monday 12pm ET Brave Space
10/29 Tuesday 12pm ET Brave Space w/wkshp
           Tuesday 7pm ET Advanced Brave Group Coaching
10/30 Wednesday 12pm ET Brave Space
10/31 Thursday 11am ET Advanced Brave Group Coaching
11/01 Friday 12pm ET Brave Space
           Friday 3pm ET Brave Sharing Salon

11/03 Sunday 6pm ET All Human Brave Space
11/04 Monday 12pm ET Brave Space
11/05 Tuesday 12pm ET Brave Space w/wkshp
           Tuesday 7pm ET Advanced Brave Group Coaching
11/06 Wednesday my apologies - I have to cancel today's Brave Space
11/07 Thursday 11am ET Advanced Brave Group Coaching
11/08 Friday 12pm ET Brave Space

11/10 Sunday 6pm ET All Human Brave Space
           Sunday 730pm ET All Human Brave Sharing Salon
11/11 Monday 12pm ET Brave Space
11/12 Tuesday 12pm ET Brave Space w/wkshp
           Tuesday 7pm ET Advanced Brave Group Coaching
11/13 Wednesday my apologies - no Brave Space
11/14 Thursday 11am ET Advanced Brave Group Coaching
11/15 Friday 12pm ET Brave Space

11/17 Sunday 6pm ET All Human Brave Space
11/18 Monday 12pm ET Brave Space
11/19 Tuesday 12pm ET Brave Space w/wkshp
           Tuesday 7pm ET Advanced Brave Group Coaching
11/20 Wednesday 12pm ET Brave Space
11/21 Thursday 11am ET Advanced Brave Group Coaching
11/22 Friday 12pm ET Brave Space
           Friday 3pm ET Brave Sharing Salon

Each week Tuesdays includes fast feedback for up to 1 page (@250 words) of writing or you can bring in a craft issue/ask for help with your project. 

Each month there are 2 Sharing Salons: Second Sundays (730pm ET) and Final Fridays (3pm ET) for sharing up to 10 minutes of work (up to 1500 words).

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See you soon in Brave Space! <3