How brilliant that when the Youth Theatre has been a little quiet and therefore there isn't much in the way of guest bloggers that Mel's Dad steps up to the challenge...
Hey Yew Tree! Great
Halloween Treat you put on at Nostell last week. I went expecting to be startled and
scared. It wasn’t startling… just really
creepy. And I’m guessing that isn’t easy
to act out . So well done! Amazing talent as ever!
The problem I have is that when I watch these performances
it always starts me thinking…very dangerous I know!!! And this time it got me thinking about our
motivation for doing “stuff”, how we can keep interested in doing “stuff” for,
and how we deal with “stuff” when we can’t do it any longer.
I could go on for hours about this, but you want me to keep
this blog interesting right?? So here’s
just a few lines about four stages you might want to think about when you need
to make decisions about “stuff” to do with your life.
1)
ATTRACTION – you see something advertised, or
you are made aware of something you fancy and might like to get involved
in. What is it that helps you to think:
“Hey! I think I’ll give that a go.”? It
might be a job advert, or further education, someone you like, or hey! Yew Tree Youth Theatre sounds good! At this point you’re inquisitive and if the
feelings are strong enough you decide to give it a go.
2)
ATTACHMENT – this stage is so, so
important. It’s the short space of time
after you decided to embark on the journey, and for the first couple of months
or so after you’ve joined. As Frankie
Cocozza would sing: “Should I stay or should I go now?” It’s the time when you
make a decision about whether what you saw when you first saw the advert is
what this thing is like in reality.
Maybe what happens in those first few weeks is even better than you
thought it would be like. Or on the
other hand…alas, not as good as you would hope.
And sometimes you have to be strong enough to say…hey! this isn’t for
me.
3)
ENGAGEMENT – next phase. So you decide you really like what you see
and can make a go of this. It’s building
your own confidence and your self-esteem.
You show passion, enthusiasm, are inspired and motivated to carry on
with this thing. That’s just great! I see this all the time at Yew Tree
performances. And as time goes on you
build up skills and capabilities, and you just want to keep going and going and
going! The problem is that this phase
can go on for a long, long time. We all
have to work hard to keep engaged, keep interested. When you start work that experience might
have to last the best part of 5 decades….a long, long time. Will you stay motivated all that time? Will boredom set in? Will you become disinterested? Find ways to get inspired and stay there….
4)
TRANSITION – is this the end? The exit door. Well it doesn’t have to be. If things happen and the interest goes, then
you have to decide whether to call it quits at some stage. You might have to weight up whether you finish
this stuff now, or maybe later (now is not a great time to give up a job, you
might not find another quickly). There
are also situations in which you have to leave.
Perhaps the organisation you are in only lets you stay until a certain
age. So you have to exit then – but
think about what you can continue with to carry on the good work and continue
to be inspired. I’ll finish on a real positive.
Opportunities are out there for you.
Transition from one job is not always about leaving, it can also mean
you get promoted to higher ranks.
Brilliant! And I guess closer to
home for some of you - If at some point you are no longer a youth and can’t be
a Yew Tree student any more, remember you can always keep an association with
the group, help, nurture and mentor other students. And always remember what you have learned
over your years at Yew Tree, how your confidence has grown, and what a
fantastic foundation your experiences have given you to be able to move onwards
and upwards.
Good luck…you’re on the right
road to success J
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