Happy New Year! Quickenings is the annual newsletter that my family creates around this time of year. It has been a regular "publication" since 1999. Here is my portion of the letter. If you are interested in reading the full document, there is a link at the bottom of this post.
Happy New Year to you, Friends!
My pen pal gave me this quote on a birthday, and I’d like to share it with you:
“May the best of the last year be the worst of the next!”
I have spent about half of 2013
travelling for work as a Production/Stage/Company Manager for various
contemporary dance companies. This has taken me to Toronto, Halifax, PEI, North
Carolina, and all around BC. This winter and spring I will continue touring
with two other companies across Canada, the USA, and the UK. If I’m in your town I hope we can meet
for a meal or a cup of tea! Eating all one’s meals at restaurants can get
tiring, especially in small town BC (I’m looking at you, Kitimat).
Last winter I was very sick with
pneumonia for almost two months. This was partly due to overwork and high
stress at my job at Presentation House Theatre. I learned a huge amount working
there, managing shows and running the venue, but it was disorganized and difficult
to do my job well. With some offers to tour, and desiring the flexible life of
a freelancer, I left PHT at the end of June. Leaving that job gave me a chance
to reflect on my work style and priorities. As a result I have made some
different choices in my daily life. Cutting down on caffeine, getting more
sleep, adding in regular exercise, and reading more fiction have all helped
refresh me.
While I’m on the road, in
different hotels, theatres, and airports, I am learning what things I need to
make it feel like “home.” Some of these are CBC podcasts, good teas, fantasy
books, and movies filmed in Vancouver. In 2010 I spent the summer away training
at the Banff Centre, and that was the only time I’ve felt homesick. Since then
I have picked comforts to bring with me, and have let the dancers and
technicians I travel with become family (which happens surprisingly fast).
This year has been a positive
one. I feel as though I have been steadily climbing up a hill. I am trying to
value rest and leisure time as much as I value work and activity, and to tend
to my complete wellbeing – physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual. It
has been a real highlight to visit friends and family while I am touring.
Another highlight was attending the Production Managing the Arts conference in
Toronto in March. It was a crazy four days, full of seminars, meals, and
conversations. There is no training of this kind in Vancouver, and I’m very
glad that I was able to go.
Since the majority of eight
months was to be spent travelling, I sublet my place to an old friend while I
tour. My initial plan was to put my things in storage and couch-surf during the
short times I was in Vancouver. However, since my brother had just moved out to
Victoria to attend UVic, my parents offered me space at their house. My mailing
address is still the same, as I will be returning to Dundee street in
June.
I have been attempting to write
about my work and travels – quite inconsistently- but if you would like to read
about them, you can visit my neglected blog at http://h.quicke.blogspot.ca. I
will post my 2014 travel itinerary there as well in the hopes of seeing a few
of you!
We are so
blessed with many things in our North American lives: readily available food,
safe communities, shelter, and the chance to pursue our interests. In 2014, I
hope you will consider how you can help others who may not have these things,
or who are going through struggles. Perhaps through giving blood, volunteering
in your neighborhood, or donating to charity.
Another quote to wrap this up,
this time from C.S. Lewis: “ Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like
art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value
to survival.”
Thank you for your friendship!
- Heidi
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