My gratitude and plans
Hello there!
I hope this letter find you well and happily ensconced in doing the things you love the most.
I am back in Colorado after one of the most eye opening and incredible summer experiences of my life.
An experience that would not have happened if it weren't for your incredible support, love and generosity.
You have no idea how much this summer has changed my life.
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
You see, in June as I prepared to go, I had my doubts that I would make enough, or raise enough, money to be able to go to the NYC intensive I had been accepted into. But, because of your incredible generosity, I did.
I also never thought I would go to New York City and fall in love with it so, damn, much. But, then again, I did.
The school that I attended, The Barrow Group, is an absolutely incredible artistic institution.
Having found it on Google, I was a little unsure on my first day. But as I took my seat in the third row, and our teachers stood up and began talking about theater and acting, I felt a ripple of goosebumps slide down my spine. I could tell that this school was going to teach me the things I have been craving to learn. I had indeed landed in the right place. This school was exactly what I had been looking for.
I learned an incredible amount of things over the 6 week intensive from the deeply generous and down to earth teachers at The Barrow Group. Not only did we work on scene study, script annuluses, monologues, clowning, stage combat, what to expect when working in front of a camera and auditioning; but we also worked on the depth and realness that brings theater, both on stage and on camera, to life in such a compelling and deeply rooted way.
I really discovered, again, that theater, like any art, is about showing your vulnerability, and the realness that's inside of you. All of our past experiences, emotions and thoughts make us who we are and when we are on stage our job is to play as true to that humanity residing within us, as possible.
In my time in New York I also found a new love for playwriting and as a matter of coincidence, teemed up with a couple of my classmates and we co-wrote and performed a four person scene near the end of our 6-week session. It was so fun and I learned so much. My classmates are really talented.
My only complaint about the school, was that there wasn't enough of it. I wanted to be in class for more hours of the day, because what they were teaching was what I wanted to be learning.
That's when I found out about their 1.5 year Acting Conservatory program, and even though it was full I wrangled my way onto the waiting list.
Having school for half days, meant that I had time to explore the city, get lost on the subways, make friends, listen to street performers and tap into the creative energy that runs through the city like life blood.
I found myself quickly, and irreversibly, falling in love with New York City.
Coming from my homesteading, off grid living, goat delivering, mountain surrounded home, I wasn't exactly sure how I would like the city. But even though it is the absolute opposite of everything I knew, it somehow fit me and I felt a new kind of freedom, Jay walking the hot pavements, jammed with people, the smells of exhaust, cologne and the kabob carts on the corner wafting over the streets.
Throughout my whole experience there, I felt a kind of guidance and joy, a strength walking with me. It was something kind of like peace; deep faith in the current of life.
It really was one of the most challenging, inspiring, fulfilling and happiest summers of my life.
I really want to thank you for being a part of it all. Because you were.
You traveled with me in the souls of my shoes everyday on my walk to the subway and in my glad heart watching the little interactions of people on the street.
You were right there with me the first time I saw the Empire State Building above me, looming in all it's silver stone elegance; the fear, excitement and blood pounding my ears as I raced to my very first class.
You were there with me as my heart felt more and more at home in the bustling city around me.
And even through the newness and the challenge I always knew I wasn't alone. Because you were there, behind me and rooting for me.
So thank you.
From the bottom of my heart and my bare, red painted toes. Thank you.
Just before I left New York, my school contacted me, alerting me to the fact that a spot has opened up for me in their 1.5 year Acting Conservatory, if I want it.
Of course I do. If I can make enough money to make it happen.
So now I am back in Colorado, working, packing, hugging my family and trying to soak in the beauty and silence of my mountains and my stars before I move two thousand miles away and pursue this thing that is so rich and wonderful. Acting. LIfe. I plan on moving by the 1st of October.
If any of you know of sponsorships, acting grants, school scholarships or jobs in NYC, please send them my way. I am working as much as I can, trying to make two thousand dollars before I leave for the downpayment of my school. I feel a miracle may be in order to pull all of this off. But I am really determined to try.
If you feel moved to donate anything more to my cause, be it words, hugs, dances, money, banana bread, or a simple telephone call; they would all be greatly appreciated.
Thank you all so much, for everything you have done for me.
Here I go, hopefully swinging onto the next phase of my life, one I call adventure and one I reach for with both of my freckled and callused hands. Thank you so much for the love and support.
Elizabeth Woods-Darby
Blog links:
Brooklyn Bridge adventure: http://barefootheart.blogspot.com/2013/09/brooklyn-bridge-adventures.html
The thing adventures: http://barefootheart.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-thing-humanity_19.html
July Posts, stories, pictures and adventures: http://barefootheart.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2013-07-19T09:10:00-07:00&max-results=7
August Posts, stories and pictures: http://barefootheart.blogspot.com/2013_08_01_archive.html
Elizabeth Woods-Darby
38501 Pitkin Rd
Paonia, CO 81428
Original video: https://vimeo.com/66926207
