Generation Hashtag

Today is the launch of the 2013 CultureTech Festival: 1pm in the Craft Village and everyone's welcome. We’ve been told to expect “music, grub and tons of old school printed programmes”- inside of which will feature this:

http://culturetech.co/event/2013-09-14/inheritance

My first solo piece since 2007, and my first ever self-penned piece. Still in its experimental primary phase as a project, self-belief is the only thing to calm my nerves. I know for a fact that everything will fall into place because there is no other option but to ensure it does.

The best thing about the primary phase of a project like this is without a doubt the research and the revelations it brings. Being a piece which addresses and questions the role of the current young generation and its consequences for the future my sources for research are all around: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Blackberrys, iPods. What better generation to study for a festival that runs off technology than the one who live through it.

His article begins with statistics set to stun mode; “The National Institutes of Health found that for people in their 20s, Narcissistic Personality Disorder is three times as high than the generation that’s 65 or older.” People in their 20’s care more about their looks than those in their 60’s who have passed their prime? What an enlightening piece of research, eh? What Stein also fails to consider is that this is a study which was never undertaken with any other generation while they were in their 20’s; this is a study based one group without a control. This is not science. In fact, it is little more than propaganda and a perfect example of Generation X’s stereotype of twisting information to meet their agenda.


What baffles me is his criticism of the new wave of boomerangers- adults returning to live back at home. He attributes this solely to our laziness. It is, of course, completely unconnected to the failing economy which his generation is responsible for. . . . Furthermore, we don’t work the same hours his generation did in regular jobs, deeming ourselves ‘too good’. It is too easy to write us off as thinking of ourselves as ‘too good’- perhaps instead we’re too smart to let ourselves fall into the same pitfalls that our elders did before us leaving us with no room for self-improvement or a focused path. We see what Generation X-ers chose to experience and we want alternatives.

Perhaps we should consider that one of the key issues restricting the growth of Millennials is the current culture where they are regularly patronized and dismissed; their identities are often referred as being the products of baby boomers, not as individuals within their own right.

Stein does however, make some excellent points. Points which should be recognised as words of warning. At our best, we are pioneers, at our worst- self-centred egomaniacs. And I have seen it in action on both sides of the coin. It is to be expected that the first generation of the internet will be more self-involved- we are the first to have our face plastered over the web with social media- however many of this generation are happily sitting back as this becomes their only legacy to claim.

It has never been so important as now for a generation to decide their legacy and donation to the world. Never has determination and clarity been so vital. This is a generation who are at risk of becoming more familiar with Facebooking their problems than facing them. Our culture has picked up new and annoying bad habits- exercise a habit enough and it becomes who you are. And what are we becoming? In an unfortunately high number of cases, little more than YOLO-hashtag caricatures who document our life in a myriad of duckfaced selfies and before and after dinner plates.

Now is the time to decide who we want to be, both today and tomorrow. It is right now that we are forming the components of our personality that will last forever and discarding those we fail to make use of.  In her book, The Defining Decade, Meg Jay reminds us of the developmental progress of the brain at this life stage and just what the implications are. Research shows that the brain develops from back to front. The oldest and fully formed regions of the brain, such as the cerebellum, are also the most primitive, controlling our most basic desires; breathing, food, sleep, hunger etc. The most forward and newest region is the frontal lobe which can be found just behind the forehead. This region is often nicknamed ‘the seat of civilisation’ for its control over rationale, feelings and emotions. MRI scans taken by the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging at UCLA of healthy adolescents and twenty somethings show that the frontal lobe does not develop until sometime between the ages of twenty and thirty, for which psychologists often refer to people of this age as uneven.

So what does this actually mean?

In our first formative years our brain undergoes a hugely significant growth spurt, producing more neurons than it will ever be able to use. In a short space of time we learn to walk, talk, read, speak and eat amongst a million other incredible but everyday tasks. The brain has prepared for such a high and sudden level of demand with this growth spurt but is then left with an overly crowded network which leads to cognitive inefficiency- which explains why these remarkable toddlers can then also forget simple things, the brain is simply holding too much. To remedy this the brain then goes through a pruning process, throwing away the connections which never went to use.

As recently as the 90’s the National Institute for Mental Health discovered that this process repeats itself at a second critical period in life and this growth-pruning pattern happens once again, starting in our adolescent years and ending during our twenties. Once again the brain does the preparatory work to allow us the face new challenges, take up new skills, and develop in new ways- we have entered an area described by neurologist J. Giedd as a time of ‘great risk and great opportunity’. This isn’t to say that the human potential for growth does not continue throughout life but never again will it be so easy to learn new things or make important changes in our character. To quote directly from Dr. Meg Jay, “In a use-it-or-lose-it fashion, the frontal lobe connections we use are preserved and quickened; those we don’t use just waste away through pruning. We become what we hear and see and do every day. . . . . In Neuroscience, this is known as “survival of the busiest”.

It is our duty to make use of the key position we currently find ourselves in; in fact, it is vital. Unaware of the potential we are currently riding on a wave of and we are at risk of waking up wondering why no-one’s impressed by our home-made meme anymore. People no longer care, everyone else saw the clock ticking and took ownership for their legacy. Millennials are a generation who hold great power in their hands, greater power than they may realise. We have become empowered in our ability to be entrepreneurs in a failing economy, we have stepped away from succumbing to the pressure of getting any job at all no matter how much unhappiness it breeds, we are optimistic and confident. Not all of us are on the positive side, but seemingly unknown to Time Magazine, not all of us are on the negative side. Especially not if we take control today.

Powerful Beyond Measure

As the world has been preparing itself for the inevitable passing of Nelson Mandela, these words by Marianne Williamson have been brought to the forefront of the universal mind. I’ve yet to work out why so many people attribute this speech to Mr Mandela; he didn’t come up with this statement, nor did he quote it in his 1994 inauguration speech as is so often wrongly assumed. Either way, it's great and Ms Williamson has hit the nail on the head. 

This week past has been one the toughest weeks of my working life to date. Working on a tough script in a rehearsal room? No, that would come with set security of having a show to work towards. This week has involved diving full depth into the ocean of auditions; so much so that all of the material which I have presented for panels in this week alone adds up to almost an hour’s worth of work including drama, singing and music. The sort of week I can look back upon with pride and amazement at the power and potential of the human mind. Had I been asked before how long would it take me to get a one hour solo show together my answer would not have been a week, but here was the evidence that my body and mind were capable of it as long as I accepted the idea. The only barrier which prevented me beforehand was that in my head.

 

Not only were these auditions flying in one after another, they were highly musical. For anyone who doesn’t know me personally, my first singing lesson in my life was at drama school and I wasn’t set to take over from Idina Menzel any time soon. In fact, during my first ever solo during class I did a walk out- my thought process being ‘I don’t want to be here. Well, there’s the door’. No-one had anticipated it, my singing teacher had certainly never had someone dare to stop in a performance for him. While the class were bewildered and wondering what just happened, I was hyperventilating in the hallway outside as if something which actually merited such a reaction had just happened. 

 

Brought back in and made to get on with it before I was allowed to sit down, I had no choice but to face my fear. Avoiding it was not an option. That term I changed private tutor so the man who made me take action when it was the last thing I wanted or felt able to do would be my one-on-one coach alongside my class teacher, even coming in on Saturdays for some of his time. This all-action-no-pity attitude was the one which would bring results, which would give me bigger challenges to surmount and so, change and grow in the process. I’m sure he’s in line for a sainthood on account of patience with drama queens.

With hard work- staying in to sing in an empty house instead of going to parties alongside taking weekend classes on top of the 50 hours we studied on weekdays I graduated a much stronger singer and person than had entered. My first post-training job included solo singing and I did the great job I was trained to do. Yet there’s still a first year inside of me breathing erratically every time I’m requested to sing. They may the size of a thimble, but they’re there. I accept it, I just don't wait to feel ok. Taking action will make me feel ready, waiting til I feel ready will prevent me from ever taking action.

 

And so, the week of Audition Mountain arrives and in the midst of the requests asked of me, one director asks me to prepare one monologue and one song. Accapella. Either classical or operatic. ‘No problem’ I say, ‘I’ll get on it’. And I do. My current singing teacher is surprised to say the least but off we go, working on my first ever classical piece unsure of how it’ll go. I return to my student years, stay in the house and work for hours every day until it’s show time along with organising my time for the ten other pieces I have to perform that week. As Aristotle said "We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit".

I’m mastering the juggling act, when in a last minute turn of events, the man I chose to walk beside is suddenly travelling over 2,500 miles to go on stage in Armenia with a few days’ notice. Of course he doesn’t need me to organise what he’s perfectly capable of, but the luxury of catching up at the weekend instead is gone. All items of importance must be looked after, and this is up at the top. The machine keeps turning, the wheels are still in motion. 

Everyday has to be given full focused attention; there isn’t the luxury of an hour catching up with Gail Platt and her friends on Corrie unless it’s been accounted for and still leaves room to work for the next day. Each day comes and goes smoothly with the work I’ve conscientiously prepared going as it should, time for a weekly singing lesson doesn’t go overlooked, and time with those closest is still paramount. Even my classical song comes out note perfect as if I've had a voice transplant, leaving me masking my relief and surprise at my capabilities.

By the end of the week, I have to reschedule headshots having been called back in for a recall for one of the auditions; my voice has explored folk music, classical music & musical theatre, my hands and jaw have been stiff from the tin whistle and my brain is bursting with new pieces and the new books I’ve read. There’s enough time for a face mask and a Star Wars movie before rehearsals begin for a different project the following day- one to thankfully keep my mind busy instead of obsessing over which days from the previous week will translate into job offers. I look back on the week and am amazed at the power of the human brain. 

Every single inch of space in my mind has been used to its full potential. I’ve conquered new extremes in banking lines into my memory and have dared to go to places which are challenging for even professional singers. Being so busy left no time for fear, no time to question whether I would even get it done, only the urgency to make sure I did. I’m inspired: there is a brain inside my head ready to support any idea as long as I let go of the surrounding fear. The key is diving in, don't worry about how you'll do it. Trust that you'll work it out, no problem will be insurmountable- all you have to do is commit.

Who knows what I’ll achieve with my renewed consciousness of the power of the subconscious??