Spiced Pumpkin Creativity

I've been saving it for a few weeks. I am not a patient person, but I am always patient with this particular tradition in my home. It is a small, simple comfort that brings peace to my heart every, single year. 

I buy a Yankee Spiced Pumpkin candle each year on my birthday, and save it for one very special reason - to usher in a new season. Today, the candle took it's place on my kitchen counter where I lit it first thing this morning. For more than two decades, this little ritual celebrated the beginning of a new school year, but this year, the fall scent rings in a new season, bringing the usual changing of the weather and scenery, and also some big changes for our family. 

This year, I decided on Monday, August 25th, to be "candle day."  I just returned from a trip with my daughter to Portland, Oregon where she'll move in a few short weeks. I wanted to wait until after we'd returned because once her apartment was secured, I knew it would truly feel like a new season was coming. 

I also chose today because it marks the beginning of rehearsals for a new musical I wrote with my friends, Lee and Tony.  It's based on the true story of when the Beatles made a late-night, unexpected landing at an old military air field outside Walnut Ridge Arkansas while on their first American tour. News that the world's biggest rock band had landed in this small town sent residents into a frenzy. The event was especially significant for 14-year-old Carrie Mae Snapp, president of the local Beatles fan club. What happened in the 35 hours that passed in September of 1964 changed the course of Carrie Mae's life in some pretty incredible ways.

It is a privilege that we get to tell this story and I can't wait for people to see it fully produced on stage. We are presenting it at the Nebraska Communities Playhouse in Hickman. You should all come and see it in October. I'll pause here while you go purchase your tickets at neplayhouse.com.  

Did you go get your tickets?  I'll pause again...

That's neplayhouse.com. 

Okay, now that you've made your purchase, let me tell you why this show is so meaningful to me, personally. I was immediately attracted to the idea when Tony presented it to Lee and me. We dove in and wrote and rewrote and rewrote and rewrote. We did a table read and a staged reading to help us refine the work. Over time, I have realized why I have grown so fond of the story and the characters. Let me tell you why. 

A few years ago I was challenged to come up with a personal mission statement. When I tell you it took years for me to land on what I now use as a personal and professional compass for my life, I mean years. I mean, how do you narrow down your life efforts to 20 words or less? Nothing ever felt adequate or accurate. Eventually I landed on the following statement, and while it certainly isn't all-encompassing, it comes pretty darn close to the core value that dictates how I spend a BIG chunk of my time. 

"To do creative work that inspires and equips others to do their creative work." 

When I think of Carrie Mae Snapp and the life she has lived since that magical day in 1964, I realize she has lived out a similar mission. You'll need to come to the show to fully understand what I mean, (see what I did there - go buy your tickets at neplayhouse.com) but suffice it to say she has spent a lifetime helping other people make their creative dreams come true. She's still doing that today in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. And that inspires me to keep doing what I'm doing. 

Carrie Mae took a magical moment in her life and decided to help other people experience magical moments in theirs, too. I've had some pretty magical moments in my life. I understand those moments might not look like much to people who've achieved levels of success I might never experience, but they've sure been magical to me. Most of them have come at the end of a whole lot of work, rejection, ridicule, and perseverance, but gosh darn it, they happened. And if I have a chance to help someone else feel the way I did in those moments, then watch out 'cause I've got things to do. 

Tonight, I'll sit in the director's chair alongside a production team of humans I adore, surrounded by a cast of fellow-dreamers, and we'll dive into something that's never been done before.  How many times do you get to say that in your life? I'll get to work with people from ages 11 to 70-something and hopefully inspire and equip them do their creative work. All of this fueled by the scent of a pumpkin spiced candle. Today is a good day. 

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