MFA: The Parenting Edition

Why do we judge each other? What’s wrong with criticism? Is it possible to get everyone in the world to stop judging one another? Is that even healthy? Isn’t part of our job as parents to teach what we feel, or society feels, is right or wrong? Isn’t that idea of right and wrong a judgement call? As mom’s we search for a tribe, we go back to what we know and form cliques based off our new mommy ideals. We never grow up from our high school selves, and we become...Mean Girls. The Regina George’s still exist, so do the Gretchen’s and the Karen’s. We can see ourselves in all the characters from Mean Girls. 

Happy Thanksgiving! Celebrating gratitude and our precious time with a mini Thank You Episode!

What does it mean to collaborate? How does the collaborative process work in theatre? How can that translate to family life? 

What is improv? What the hell are people talking about in theater and improv when they say “yes, and”? How can it benefit our parenting journey? 

How do we create change? Can theatre be used as a vehicle for social change? What are the social issues we feel are important and worth speaking out about? Why? What does the world look like that we long to live in? How does that world look, not only for our lives but, for those who are less fortunate than us? What does liberty, freedom, respect, equality, look like in your mind?

What is political theatre? What does the history of political theatre teach us about ourselves? What are our values, in society and our home? What’s the difference between a belief and an idea? Is one more dangerous than the other?
Politics is a performance very much like the Song & Dance of Parenting. It is a play of and for power. With our power to choose these leaders comes the responsibility of unpacking our own values and beliefs to investigate how we can best serve not just ourselves but the future for our children and our children’s children.

The Method Series Part 7 of 7:  How often do we battle with what we want to do and say and how we allow ourselves to respond to situations? How does our expressiveness get diminished through life? How do we train ourselves to raise our kids the way we would like as opposed to the way we’ve been conditioned? Do we parent different when people are watching? Do we tend to “sell” things to our kids to increase their cooperation but also, if we’re honest to control their emotional…what’s the word…expressiveness?  

Today’s episode is the last installment in our 7-part series on the Method and we’ll be looking at the song & dance exercise. We’ll also be expanding on the song & dance topic from episode 3 and then wrapping up all we’ve learned!

The Method Series Part 6 of 7:  What does Harry Potter have to do with this? 
What is emotional memory? Do our memories and our feelings surrounding them shape the story of who we are? How emotionally available are we? Do we allow ourselves to grieve, enjoy bliss, sit in uncertainty, and all the other beautiful and uncomfortable feelings that come with being alive? Do we give our kids space to feel their feelings and honor their process of emotional growth? What is emotional intelligence and how do we develop it within ourselves so we can nurture it in our children? 

The Method Series Part 5 of 7:  How physically expressive are we in our own bodies? What stories can people devise from our physicality? What do actors do to help them take on the physical characteristics of another person? What do we gain by being able to “walk in someone else’s shoes”?

Each of us has a story. A full life overflowing with glorious adventures, tragic loses, heroic acts of bravery, unthinkable suffering and quiet moments of stillness. Those stories live in our body. When we’re able to observe ourselves and others with curiosity instead of judgement we open our capacity for empathy and compassion. We become curious learners, which is where learning comes from – pure curiosity. As we learn to become more genuinely curious we model that for our children.

The Method Series Part 4 of 7:  What are inhibitions? What are the blocks we have that make it difficult to connect and engage with the world authentically? How can our kids help us open up? What can the overall-sensation exercise do to benefit our lives?