The Families We Choose

Does anyone else crave family? I’m blessed to have been born into a pretty alright one, dysfunctional yes, but I have good relationships with my siblings and step-siblings and I love my parents. I feel loved and accepted (or at the very least tolerated) for who I am. I also married into another great family that I adore. And still I look to create family experiences wherever I go. I think for me there is an energy, a creative release, an amplification of strengths, an opening for you to be your best self when buoyed up by the grace and love of family. I mean that is the freedom, right? Being loved even when you don’t “deserve” it. When I feel that grace, when I’m in that atmosphere of love and peace, I can be closer to that person that I want to be, I can do my best and be generous to those around me. I can handle the messiness that comes with relationships as long as grace is in the air we breathe and the words we speak. This is especially true in my artistic family. Producing theatre is not an easy task. Inevitably things will go wrong, egos will flare, budgets will be constrained and artistic visions will conflict, but if you surround yourself with the right people, the ones who share your passion and have a sense of humor and know how to give each other the room to be themselves and to make mistakes and still be there on the other side, then you’ve found gold.

I definitely feel very lucky to be part of the AboutFACE Ireland family. We’ve had our share of ups and downs, of marriages and break-ups, of deaths and births, of fights and barbecues, but they are the people that I want by my side going into creative adventures. And these are some of the most exposing adventures of all because here you lay out who you are, you bare your soul. You share what really matters to you and sometimes you have to compromise and that can be hard because who wants to appear weak? The times when you disagree, when you are far from your best self, that is when the true test of grace, of real love, is shown. Can you be honest and exposed and accepted? Can you accept the failings of others without making them feel small? In this family you can! I’m thankful for each member of the AboutFACE family, they each bring something unique and different to the mix and as crazy as I can be, they still love me. I choo-choose you AboutFACE.