Happy Holidays to everyone! I hope you find joy in the little things and don’t get hung up and stressed about the big things. There was a time when the holidays really stressed me out. It had everything to do with my career of choice. As you all know from my previous blog post "One foot in and one foot out!" or "That box doesn't fit anymore" – KP Reynolds Art (kpreynolds112.myshopify.com) that I spent the first half of my life as a Stage Manager in theatre. Most of my experience comes from regional theatres. You cannot be in theatre and not do a Christmas show. I worked on Christmas Carol, A Tuna Christmas, A Christmas Story, and Santaland Diaries multiple times. (There are plenty other options of Christmas shows, these were mine) Everyone does Christmas shows so if you want to work at this time of year (Really who doesn’t and you kind of need to) then you will be working on a Christmas show. One would think that everyone would LOVE doing Christmas shows every year, but it mostly created an environment for burnout on holidays.
When people ask others what their favorite holiday is the response is either Christmas or Halloween. Mine is Memorial Day or Labor Day. (They aren’t listed in the drop-down menu in Facebook quizzes that enlighten you to who you really are) These holidays are on a Monday, my only day off in pre-pandemic years, which meant that I was always able to enjoy the time. So why not Christmas and Halloween (we’re going to throw that one in along with Thanksgiving). There were many years when my Kids were young that my Christmas would start the last week of September which is when I would start my prep week for a Christmas show (Usually with A Tuna Christmas or A Christmas Story). Sometimes, when I was lucky, it would begin the first week of October. Then tech (when we put all the elements like costumes, sets, props, sound, and lights together with what we had been rehearsing for 3 weeks) would almost always happen on Halloween. This meant that once I had my kids, I would miss trick or treating with them.
There were also the years when we would preview (a show) Christmas Carol on Thanksgiving. This meant that I would dash home for 1 hour to have Thanksgiving and then run back to work. Then we would run these shows till Christmas and sometimes into January (8-10 show a week). So, my Christmas would last almost 4 months some years. It’s difficult to maintain that Christmas spirit or find joy when you are working so much to spread joy to everyone else and the hardest part, of course, is missing out on that time with your family.
All these thoughts came up these past 2 months as I saw other businesses and artists launch Black Friday sales and click funnels on give aways (if you just pay shipping and handling). I am not judging, really, I’m not. I just couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t jumping in on the action. I am now running my own business that falls under retail. This is the biggest time of the year for retail businesses, and I couldn’t find it within me to jump in on it. I mean, it could be that I have a little of that oppositional defiant disorder, but I think it’s because I had so many years of creating joy for others while mine slipped away. It’s taken me 10 years to find that magic again and I guess I don’t want to risk losing it.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I had plenty of laughter and joy while I was working. It was when things didn’t go as expected (which happens in live theatre. It’s not always perfect but when it is it is magical and when it isn’t it can be hilarious). Santa losing his wig, elves bumping into each other while trying to carry Christmas trees offstage, falling on the Christmas goose (oh the slips and falls always got me giggling, unless it looked like it hurt!), doors being held in place by the crew because it came off it’s hinges, car crashes (it was a golf cart and nobody was hurt) so many moments of laughter. There were great heartwarming magical moments too. I always got joy from the people I worked with. It really wasn’t till I had kids of my own that it became difficult. I missed out on a lot, and I don’t want to get so busy again that I miss out on more, so I am protective of my time.
I do enjoy putting my artwork on products. Last year was my first attempt at selling products and while they were good products the shipping was ridiculous. I learned this year to pay attention to where the products are coming from (like not from China because it will take years!) and to sell only to areas that I am willing to ship to. I ended up shipping a product to Israel this year and I made a whopping 51 cents! It made me laugh and now someone in Israel is enjoying a notebook featuring my artwork.
I am always learning, and this has been such a beautiful journey. I know I will find the balance and I hope you find it too if you haven’t already. So, for those who create magic and joy for others remember to hang onto yours and for those whose magic and joy comes from performers, retail, and restaurant workers, (and anyone else I missed) remember to share a little back.
A note to all those who may find wintertime difficult. Days are already starting to get longer so you made it over the hump and summertime will be here before you know it and then everyone will complain about the heat.
Enjoy your time!!
xoxo