This holiday season, Downstage Arts encourages you to take a look at this past year to celebrate your growth as artists and as human beings. After all, your real-life human experiences inform your artistic souls, while the latter feeds the former. If you’re wondering how to meditate on 2021 (a year that continues to face similar challenges as 2020), we’ve provided some questions below that we hope will contribute to an honest, peaceful, and beneficial reflection.
Questions for the human You:
What is your biggest takeaway from this year, and what does it tell you?
What is something (good or bad) that changed for you, and what did you learn?
How did you show kindness for yourself?
If you feel as though you weren’t able to show yourself enough support, how do you think you might improve going forward?
Questions for the artistic You:
When you think about your work this past year (whether a performance, a rehearsal, or something else), what do you think went well for you?
What aspects of your work felt like a challenge?
What artistically interested you this year? (Maybe your answer reflects on show themes that you connected with, a new style of music, or a character that strongly resonated with you.)
No matter the type of year we collectively experience, it is essential to be kind to yourself—always. Discovering the ways in which you can be proud and, as a result, grow confidence in yourself is an honest-to-goodness method of manifesting success that is worth celebrating! What do we mean by that, you may wonder? We encourage you to refrain from measuring success as the outcome of your goals, but rather by courage and the compassion that you give yourself while in pursuit of your desires. We hope that this mindset helps you create a kinder inner monologue.
And finally, Downstagers, we wish you a wonderful holiday break filled with love. As always, you are you, and that is your artistry.