El (They)

I fled the country (ha) to get a degree in directing, but now I've returned and I'm stuck. I'm "too experienced" for beginner schemes or low-paid internships, but I don't have any contacts either. I live on the East coast but not NYC and I have no idea how to get my foot back in the door to AD/direct. I'm not begging for B'way, but I'm feeling out of luck without anyone name dropping me in a room. Advice?

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Dear El,

First and foremost, El, I want to say how valid these feelings of career confusion and desire for connection are. It is hard to leave a place and it is also hard to return. However, another thing about departures and returns is that they have so much room for possibility! 

Ask yourself different questions, perhaps: 

• Who do I want to make things with?
• How much time do I have to dedicate to pursuing opportunities and/or making something?
• What kind of project do you see in the world and say - I wish I was working on that!
• What kind of project do you not see in the world and say - I wish that existed!

Take 10 minutes to brainstorm your resources as they are now, where you are and who you are. You will hit 5 minutes and maybe feel like you are done, but keep going. That 9th minute will likely have a reveal. Resources can be ideas in your head, they can be items in your dwelling, they can be relationships, they can be tech gear you have accrued, they can be plays in folders, they can be memberships to anything (gym, theater, club). It is easy to forget what you have when you are focused on what you don’t have.

After you ask yourself those questions, hit me up again and we will see if anything has shifted! 

Go Forth With Confidence,

Fefu