In the late spring of 2023,

I began to stumble upon the growing desire to dig deeper into my craft of documenting and writing. As with anything, there is a point where you realize you can continue as you have been or dig in deeper and search for a type of growth that will genuinely grow and challenge you.

With the encouragement of a handful of close and trusted colleagues, friends and family, I began asking what it might take for someone like me to seek a place in a master's program. I expected the doors to be firmly closed and locked in place. Yet, it was in this process that I discovered something else.

I discovered that the more I asked questions, the more doors opened. The more I tip-toed near the edge of possibility, the more the call from the unknown beckoned me to jump.

So jump I did. I spent the summer and early autumn preparing and finishing my application for this master's program. It was a labour of love over the project I am going forward with and, most importantly, a labour of love for myself.

I am worthy of a higher education, worthy of taking myself seriously, and most certainly deserving within my craft.

creativity | ˌkrēāˈtivədē | noun the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work: firms are keen to encourage creativity.

Creativity, alongside its necessary partner' curiosity,' has been the foundation of how I have developed and honed my craft over the years.

Because of this passionate love and pursuit of creativity, I have found myself in various creative industry mediums (radio, scriptwriting, playwriting, comedy writing, film, articles, and web multimedia). It continues to be the heartbeat behind all that I do.

Creative Writer

A Creative writer approaches each writing piece or project with the concept that they discover the authenticity and strength of the material as they go along. They bring not only what they understand about the subject but also all the elements of life around them to fully develop a narrative and paint a picture for the readers of what they desire to communicate.
Creative writing is less about proving a point and more about showcasing an idea, belief or feeling through the art of words.

Creative Producer

A producer can be many things depending on the project they are working on, but in this case, my approach in creative producing has been and always will be as a vision advocate. Every project has its own unique tone, voice, narrative and hook. Taking the time to come alongside a story/project and help shape it and walk it into its fullness is an act of being able to honour it through all its needed changes while also intuitively knowing what is non-negotiable in its creation.
Creative Producing is, in its entirety, a position of intuitive discernment and advocacy for the overall project.

To All that Holds this Earth,

Sorting the burdens that weigh heavy within my mind.
Sanding down the wounds that tear at my heart.
Sifting through the depths of my weary soul.

May you shed light on the ways I have manipulated words to fit my own agenda.
May you soften the ways I can make pathways
Between “them” and “me"“.
May you remind me of the healing words I have recieved.
May you enforce protection within me against the wreckage words I have inherited.

Give me the courage to listen.
Courage to pause.
Courage to listen again.
Courage to inhale.
And then, and only then,
Give me the courage to speak.

And when my words are tempted to demean, diminish or demand,
Check my pen.
And when my emotions are tempted to explode,
Check my heart.

Steady my hands.
Steady my mind.
Steady my heart.

Steady all that propels me.
& keep me centred on all that bridges.
All that connects
And certainly
All that heals.

Earlier this year I found myself saying phrases like:

“Don’t get me wrong, if it sounds like I want _____ , I don’t actually want that.”

“I wouldn’t touch that with a 10 foot pole. I would need a lot of space from it in order to do it.”

On both accounts, I am already eating my words.

Living a life open to creative work is difficult as it is comical.
More often than not, the moment of revelation and ‘next right thing’, is right at the edge of resistance.
It’s that moment you look over the edge of a giant cliff you’ve never scaled down before and despite the beauty of the view below you laugh and say things like:

“Not in a million years!”

“As if!”

“Why would I want to do that?”

And then as you take one last look you start to ask more questions.

“Well… how would I do that anyway?”

“Why would I do it…if I did….why?”

And when the answers start coming easy and clear…that is when you know you just might need to eat your words on all accounts, pick up ‘desire’ and ‘courage’ and do the real heavy work of scaling down the edge of creative insanity.

****
Reader,

I am merely at the point of preparing my gear to scale down this tall mountain of work… but when the starting gun goes…I will be beyond tickled and frigthened to show you just the edge of what it is I said I would NEVER do…that suddenly I am going to do.

Until then,

Onwards,

Welcoming a new desk to my office right as a new challenge / invitation was presenting itself was pleasant timing. A late birthday gift after years of straining my back over a desk that wasn't made for hours and hours of writing and work.

September feels like a new year for the work life and with that comes new intentions, determination and focus.

What I am carrying with me this ‘new work year’:

• Walk through open doors.

• Celebrate what has been accomplished already.

• Attend and stay open to possible ‘work’ events.

• Embrace the new direction.

• Enjoy your own creative mind.

res·o·nance| ˈrezənəns | noun
1 the quality in a sound of being deep, full, and reverberating: the resonance of his voice. • the ability to evoke or suggest images, memories, and emotions: the concepts lose their emotional resonance.
2 Physics the reinforcement or prolongation of sound by reflection from a surface or by the synchronous vibration of a neighboring object.
3 the condition in which an electric circuit or device produces the largest possible response to an applied oscillating signal, especially when its inductive and its capacitative reactances are balanced.

I have been holding back.

All it takes is one quick scroll on Youtube, Instagram or Twitter to realize the number of voices on any one thing is endless. The number of vlogs, podcasts, blogs, essays, articles, series, tik-toks, memes, commentaries, and message boards on any topic is overwhelming at best.

I have found it alarming, overwhelming and, quite frankly, scared to be a voice that isn't adding anything but more noise to the cacophony.

To become part of the machine that doesn't make room for grace, compassion and courage.

Yet, now it's time to think differently. To think with a longer-lasting perspective.

Resonance.

To develop and evoke quality, depth and fullness in creation that echoes through life and work.
To practice the art of resonance is:
To fully express the fullness of thought and meaning behind a concept.
To seek collaborative hands to be the champions and refining behind the work.
To take in more than one angle of perspective on any one thing and be refined by all that surrounds a topic.

Onwards,

Amy Grace

res·o·nance| ˈrezənəns | noun
1 the quality in a sound of being deep, full, and reverberating: the resonance of his voice. • the ability to evoke or suggest images, memories, and emotions: the concepts lose their emotional resonance.

Over the past few years, I have been doing my best to maintain and invest in my own creative business.

As much as I would like to say I am on top of all that I own, use and have fallen into using, it’s simply not true.

The truth is, I am often either emergency replacing an item (aka my laptops) and rushing to update, set up and use than genuinely taking my time and learning what these items are capable of.

I also know that personality does play a part in this. I know a few creative-based individuals who obsess over a new tool/software and would spend all of their free time figuring them out until they have mastered them. Admittedly, that is not me. I need reasons for using something, a personal or professional project, to wrap my head around using something. Although this is how I genuinely learn best, it also does naturally, at times, leave gaps.

This year, I decided to change that and am working on learning in-depth each of my tools and software.

To stay accountable to this goal, I will be updating over time what I have learned.

Equipment

Blue Yeti Mic - Used for podcast recordings & various radio docs.
Zoom h4n Pro Audio Recorder - A recent birthday gift to support my audio documentaries
Canon EOS RP - For creative and documentary captures.
MacBook Pro 14 Inch - 2021 - For every single thing I do.

Software

Final Cut Pro - For editing any footage that I use.
Final Draft 12 - For screenwriting.
Celtx - For Audio script writing
Grammarly Editor - To catch everything I am too busy to catch. ****A Ukraine business.******
Audacity - For exporting and editing audio clips.

& with all of this said, I recognize that it is a huge privilege to have these items at my disposal, and I am determined to end 2022 with a greater grasp on how I can use them to their highest potential.

Wrapping up a year, it’s easy to get caught up in the next thing.

I’ll be the first to say I love planning and jumping into the new

but,

before the jump,

let’s pause and take a moment to celebrate the wins of 2021.

Completing the ‘Owning It’ series alongside Natalie Dobbin and Claire Fraser was a high. Both Claire and I worked hard under our Brilliansea umbrella to create space for showcasing the skills of various women. in Owning It, we were able to share that with a broadcaster. I am so proud of our work under Brilliansea and the Owning It series.

The radio doc ‘Speak to Me!’ for CBC radio produced by Natalie Dobbin was indeed a piece of my heart in audio format. It was a learning experience to understand how to take an idea and format it for radio, but it was a fulfilling experience that left me inspired and ready to produce and create more.

The radio series ‘What We Carry with Us’ with Natalie Dobbin and Megan Piercey Monafu. A labour of love and a way to showcase a varying take on documenting the memories and people we love.

Along with these projects I have:

Finished production on a podcast for WIFT-AT.

Finished a pilot episode first draft on a drama.

Started a children’s book with a good friend and illustrator.

In collaboration with another actor and writer on a television series.

The wins are so important to remember.

It allows us to recognize that growth has occurred, and

the reminder that it will happen again.

You are never done growing.

It’s taken almost a full year to give birth to a specific first draft of a project.

I have taken my time processing the reasons behind wanting to craft this story, and it’s taken me a lot of time to process each turn and twist.

I’ve worked to lay the cards on the table and see what I have to work with.

Sharing this project with a select few has allowed me to see where I need to fill in plot holes and various clarifications. I liked to cover this project up, saying it was the roughest of rough ideas.
But the honest truth is it’s taken full shape, and it’s time to take it into its next draft.

A little group of words to push me into a new season with a new draft.

Onwards,

and may the cards fall where they may.

Somehow, somewhere, at some point we are apt to find ourselves believing that in order to do what we feel intrinsically called to do (especially those called into creative industries) we must sell our whole selves to an industry in order to be taken seriously.

To be a writer, one must be churning out manuscripts, scripts, poems and plays like machines.
To be an actor one must be in every topical show, series, performance that the current society is raving about on twitter.
To be a visual artist, one must have a booming social media account full of Lucious images that gain a million likes within seconds of posting.

Somehow we have found that this means ‘success’ and that this is what we need to do in order to be validated in our work, our life and our ultimate existence on this earth.

It’s all a lie.

All of it.

If you write, you are a writer.

If you act, you are an actor.

If you make visual art, you are a visual artist.

How much or how little is irrelevant.

How many people know your name is a selfish and silly game the creative industries and society have taught us to believe equals our self worth.

What matters?

How much of yourself is in the work you do?
How are you showing up for your work, not just in the moments you do it, but also the moments you don’t?
How do you cultivate and create space for those that consume, collaborate and support the work?
How do you honour your own rhythm and pacing?
How are you living not just within the work, but outside the work?

Everything informs everything.

Martin Short is known to have this idea that he is only the sum of his total whole self. If he has nine sections of his life, and one aspect of his life isn’t doing the hottest at any given moment then the rest of those parts, no matter how seemingly important or unimportant are all part of the balance to remind oneself, being successful at one part of life, but terrible at the other parts does not mean success. But to find ways to honour varying aspects of oneself, is to approach life and work as a whole person.

Creatives like to think they are the best or the worst depending on the day.

I’d like to see more of us believe that we are just like each other.

Human beings answering a calling as best they can while working to be there for their friends, family, side projects, personal growth and everything inbetween.

We are more than our awards, subscribers, honourable mentions, our nominations and our successes, or lack thereof.

We are people.
Living.
Breathing.
Thinking.
Reflecting.
Working.
people.

As the Autumn has progressed I am finding the pulse of truth become known to me.

It’s not a new concept by any means.

But it is a practice. A consistency. Meditation in the form of trust and gut.

It’s showing up to serve the work to move it forward.

Moving a project forward can feel invigorating.
It can feel like one is wonder woman and literally saving the day.

It can also feel like monotony.
The dirty work.
The scrubbing the floor just to have millions of feet walk all over it again.

And there it is. That pulse. It is steady and true.

Although one may feel that there is nothing to show for what one did to ‘move it forward’ today. There is an accumulation of days that can bring ‘it’ to the light.

It is something that only tenacity, grace and a bit of a stubborn nature can produce.

May we not discredit our work, no matter how big or how small.
How much the paycheck is or isn’t.
How many likes we receive or don’t.
How loud the applause or how quiet.

May we be more focused on serving the work before us and moving it forward to its next right place, even just a smidge more.

Eventually, we’ll look behind us and realize we climbed a mountain and despite the results and how many people saw,

we did it.

Thanks to Screen Nova Scotia, I was able to attend Media Xchanges Storytelling for Screenwriters workshop series with John Yorke.

An honour to be allowed to learn and dig deeper into my storytelling skillset. Something I have been seeking the next right opportunity to grow professionally. This turned out to be exactly what I needed.

What I’ve learned so far…

I learned to think more in-depth into the structural dynamics of the typical story/screenplay. Many screenwriters and writers, in general, have structures they apply to their work or writing. Three acts, five acts, beat sheets. All commonly used methods of mapping out a story. In this course, we explored not just a five-act structure but the deeper meanings and intentions behind why a structure can boost a story.

We saw this practically through examples and by applying it ourselves to commonly known work and creating our interpretation of a plot in group work. I was amazed by the joy and camaraderie I felt in the group work.

It was apparent everyone was happy to use their creative skill sets, bounce off ideas and work together. Seeing that collaboration is something I need to find and seek out more often. It's easy as a writer/creator to stay insular, but these moments of collaboration remind you why you do what you do.

To connect, share and find meaning. It's what drives storytellers.

How I am processing it & what I hope to work on in the next month…

John Yorke's Roadmap to Change structure technique was a mind-shift for me. You can know things intuitively, but having the words for them is also essential. That is something that I hope to hone in on and practice more in my craft over the next month and beyond. I believe I have a knack and skill set for a story, but I have lacked the vernacular to discuss the weak points, the strong points and the overall elements of a story.

Gaining this skill set is a massive part of what I have needed and am excited to be growing in.

Until our next session in two weeks, I’ll be putting this knowledge to use.

Since March 19th, I have been getting up Monday - Thursday mornings at 6 am.

I pull on my robe, grab my phone & headphones, turn on a podcast and listen as I let the hot water boil for my coffee or tea.
I light a candle, sit down with my warm drink, switch from podcast to music and write.

So far, during these write mornings over the past three weeks, I have edited and arranged 21 pages of a project I am passionate about & drafted up half of a short film.

Some mornings it comes easy.

Falling out of my fingers like a waterfall.

Other mornings

I stare at the window beside my desk and seek the light that comes brighter every minute.
I have learned that there are some moments in these sessions that I should listen to my antsy body.
One of those times, I made myself sit through the two hours with cramps distracting me.
I should have taken my laptop, tea and settled on the couch. I should not have worried about the potential of being found out by my four-year-old and just embrace what needed to happen that morning.
Another time, up at all hours with a fevered child, I told my spirit that today was not the day to wake up at 6 am and force it.

Sometimes, you have to appreciate what your body, mind and soul are saying.
The skipping is about protecting creativity, not abandoning it.

Find something equally challenging and exciting for you & show up for it.

Aren Morris

Fine Arts Specialist, Facilitator, Writer, Mom & Wife

Aren can be found working with schools to create space for students to explore fine arts, facilitating the 'Creating Space' retreats, while also embracing her role as a wife of fifteen years and mother to two young boys.

Aren is wholehearted about channelling creativity in all that she does as an arts specialist, writer, and especially as a mother where she takes great care and energy in helping to create an atmosphere for her children to grow and discover who they are.

She also happens to carry a fantastic ability to ground herself in the present moment and find words and concepts to share that bring awareness, creative ideas and insight to the surface of all that she does and to everyone she interacts with.

MORE AREN

WEBSITES

https://sites.google.com/gnspes.ca/fineartspecialists-halifaxwest/

https://www.facebook.com/creatingspaceretreats/

INSTAGRAM

https://www.instagram.com/finearts_haliwestfos/

Characters.

They are my catnip in the story world.

One of my goals this year is to better delve into the world of character development. It seems like a natural part of the writing world, but it is also one of those intricate parts that have no end. Only they, the characters, can reveal to you who they are and what motivates them. Just like people, this takes longer than a short chat. One needs time and a refreshing beverage between them.

In the real world, people are in constant motion.

They have their ways, and they're why's. I find that as I watch them at a distance, I can see the glimmer of childhood pain that sits there behind their own eyes. See the way they tug at their collar with a self-conscious tick. A small gesture becomes something that informs the world on a subconscious level who they are.

Characters are reflections of who we are.

They should be more than just two dimensional. What makes a character succeed outside of one single scene and into multiple scenes is how multi-faceted they are. When we treat our characters as if they are real and vulnerable people, we create not just better plots, but a platform for real and raw human quality work.

Currently, I am practicing taking my characters and working on holding them with a new reverence and understanding. I am asking them the tough questions and working to hear them differently. New. Characters, just like people, have so much they aren't telling you.

Depending on who you are, you might need to pour another cup and listen awhile longer.

Rebecca Thomas

Poet & Activist

Rebecca can be found focusing on trying to improve the lives of others by using her words in forms such as poetry, children’s books, advising, strategy development, and diversity inclusion practices, while also staying present in her own identity as a Mi’kmaq person.

Rebecca gives incredible insight on taking account of ones own bias, privilege and world view and is able to marry that eye opening insight with an incredible amount of wisdom in how to harness it for growth and connection with others.

She also happens to maintain a rooted presence that allows for tenderness and grace to be present as she carefully discerns her words and the words of others.

More Rebecca

Twitter
@beccaleat

Facebook

Rebecca Lea Thomas

Artists In Residence

Rebecca Thomas - Matoax

Picture of Joan Francis Goodday Lugar in Canadian Women’s Army Corps uniform.

Finishing up the roughest of the rough draft

on this one woman show on my grandmother has me a bit shaky.

Rough drafts are exactly that. Just a ‘draft’ of what something could be and nothing smooth or connected about it. I sense the holes in the story and the places that need more refining. Yet I can also sense that it’s time to put this in the hands of those I trust most with my unedited words, concepts and a re telling on my grandmother.

Thankfully, I know that there can be joy in the sharing of the roughest of rough drafts. It’s a bit like a conversation. You pass the precious story on to hands and eyes that will tenderly yet firmly sift through the ideas, concept, movements and point out the golden threads and the rough edges that either need to be cut out, sanded or just explained better.

Humility.

This is where I let my ego take a back sit and listen.

The more I have written on my paternal grandmother, the deeper my respect goes for her and the more saddened I am not to have her in this stage of my life. What would I have learned about her now if I had known her as this version of myself? I want to kneel down by her as I used to and lean my head in close in a way that always baffled her and made her chuckle. Pat her hand and feel the well worn skin as she talked about some adventure she had as a younger woman and how ‘devilish’ she was.

She had a way of telling a story that was physical, composed and in real time. As if the memory was so close she could touch it.

It is still early days for this project but as I let go of my first draft and welcome feedback, I recognize that it’s time to loosen up the reigns and do my best to be that younger version of myself who listened to her voice, took in all her facial expressions and asked the leading questions to get the story to unfold deeper.

We grab our inspiration in various places, here is a sampling of where mine has come from:

Sarah Polley

I think it’s safe to say there is nothing that I have taken in by Sarah Polley that hasn’t moved me. Most notably, Stories We Tell and Take This Waltz. Both of these pieces, one documentary and one fiction, has left me in awe about the complexities of life. I found peace and solidarity with the concept behind ‘Take This Waltz’ as it shows the process of a woman coming to terms with her choices in life, finding out her why’s, her how’s and how maybe life is not as simple as we thought it was. Stories We Tell gave me a deep dive as a human and storyteller how perspective and personality is everything. We are marked by our families, our DNA and our circumstances, no matter how we may fight it all.

Diana Gabaldon

This year I have been quite literally taken by Diana’s Outlander Series. I have only read four out of the eight already published in the series. (apparently there is to be 10 books in total.) What grabbed me with Diana’s writing, is her ability to weave together a time travel concept into history, romance, adventure, and so many more genres. She writes her characters deeper than three dimensional and has a way of making everything mundane in a persons life an integral part of the story. You believe in the characters as much as you believe in yourself, because that is how much she is able to give you in her writing.

Maya Angelou

Although I read ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ when I was a teenager, I fell in love with Maya’s words as I listened to her in various interviews. Interviews such as these: ‘Power of Words’, ‘Be a Rainbow in Someone Else’s Cloud’ , Best Advice Given, captivate me & still does. Her words are timeless, empowering and insightful and I turn to them when I need reminders to come back to myself, my values and my worthiness as a human. I will always hold her brevity, sincerity and intolerance for inhumanity close to my heart.

Elizabeth Gilbert

What I love about Elizabeth Gilbert is that not one of her works is remotely the same. Every book she has ever written is a complete departure from the last. It’s as if she shows up for the project and let’s it speak and if anything, the only thing that I can put my finger on about her, is that her own personal physical voice has a distinct soul to it that speaks of raw unashamed re-learned childlike abandon. My favourite of her works: ‘Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear’, ‘City of Girls’ and various of her clippings of words captured on the internet.

This short list didn’t even touch on ‘Anne Lamott, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Shonda Rhimes, The Brontë Sisters, Liv Constantine’…. it’s an endless list.

What writers or people inspire your work?

Creative writing lends itself well for me to write in the evenings.

In particular, I find there is something magical about writing in the summer evenings. The window by my desk open, allowing any small breeze to come in, a train rumbling by and shaking everything including my heart, the light dimming slowly as the summer sun relents to bed…

I light a candle, put on my twinkle lights, pour some white wine and turn on some music to enter into a state that can only be explained by writers.

If I could, I would stay in that state forever. It is a lot like bliss and ecstasy mixed with a bit of earth to meet you where your feet are. Somewhere in that state you are both high and grounded at the same time.

An excerpt from my write nights:

“Words are like rain.  They pour out of us and seek to cover the dry parts of our lives.  Like rain, words can come in a pitter patter, or a flood.  Like rain, words can be a deluge or a storm or even a simple dewy soft and tender pattern of affection.”