The Compass

Actor, teacher, and activist Abby Gerdst shares her experiences avoiding the dark side, starting a non profit, working with kids around the world, transitioning to focusing primarily on acting again, and how building community has always been a priority for her. 

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Poet, performer, writer Samantha Thornhill shares her experiences dealing with the changing weather of the dark side, her healing mechanisms, the power of the journal, leaving New York and parenting her son in the country she was born in, and embracing the unknown. Check out her powerful work at www.samanthaspeaks.com

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Join me for a reading of a personal essay by Kim Brooks titled "Portrait of the Artist As a Young Mom: Is domestic life the enemy of creative work?" (http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/04/portrait-motherhood-creativity-c-v-r.html), an excerpt from Just Kids by Patti Smith, and a listening recommendation to get you through the weekend, and check back next week for another full episode of The Compass - Leah Walsh

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Composer, lyricist, and singer Joel B. New shares his thoughts on the dark side, showing up, day jobs, his awesome podcast "Something New", his writing process, crowdfunding, and Murder She Wrote. Joel also shares a new song from his upcoming EP! www.joelbnew.com 

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Playwright and painter David Caudle shares his experiences carving out time to write when his time is taken up by a day job he loves, moving upstate, the importance of gratitude for the people in your life who support you, and addressing environmental issues in his writing (check out his lovely work at www.davidcaudle.org)

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Director and teacher Pirronne Yousefzadeh shares her experiences with developing her leadership style, devising new work, working away from home for long stretches at a time, her mentors and teachers, and the year of candor. Check out her work at www.pirronne.com

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Actor and visual artist/performance artist Ryan O'Byrne shares his experiences dealing with the dark side, moving across the country, and pushing artistic boundaries. Check out his work at ryandavidobyrne2014.weebly.com

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Join me for an excerpt from an article on poet Mary Oliver and one of her poems (https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/01/20/mary-oliver-molly-malone-cook-our-world/), a chapter from Letters to a Young Artist by Anna Deavere Smith, and check back next week for another full episode of The Compass. - Leah Walsh

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Actor and teacher Erica Newhouse shares her experiences learning to teach, finding day jobs that work for her, living in a one room apartment with no kitchen and finding ways to be creative in that small space (read her blog about her cooking adventures here: http://cookwithoutakitchen.blogspot.com), the importance of being ready for opportunities when they arise, and raising her 8 month old daughter in New York City. 

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Musician and songwriter Phil Pickens talks about his songwriting process, training and working as an actor and then deciding to focus fully on music, his day job solution, collaborating with other musicians, and being married to another artist. Check out his amazing work at www.philpickens.com and see him play live March 20th, 2016 at Rockwood Music Hall. 

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