Curious (Be)Longing

Tonight I made a foray into the alternative arts scene with San Francisco International Arts Festival's Andrew Wood who is in London for a visit. He took me to a placed called artsadmin in East London explaining that the performance would speak to me. And so it did.

Leslie Hill and Helen Paris, a performing duo called Curious, presented (Be)Longing. Essentially there were two monologues and each touched on something that is happening in my life.

Leslie (pictured with neon sign that cleverly changes from Lodging to Longing during the show) presented her portion while doing yoga poses in an effort to keep her mind off "that other thing." How much clutter have I also created to keep myself distracted from those voices of the inner Amy - sometimes doubt or fear and other times the inner creative eager to express herself.

Helen (pictured with guitar) is an American in London. She's lived her 20 years and last summer, when she turned 40, Helen decided to learn to play the guitar and also go back to the US Southwest to find her routes. But unlike the yuka plant she sees in the dessert her roots no longer run deep in the US. Where is her home? Where does she belong? The longer I'm in the UK the harder this question becomes.

I loved that these two women have found their voice, taken a risk and ask the hard questions of themselves and their audience. My interest is midcareer leadership development but at the same time I think it is a pre-midlife personal development question?

I am becoming more curious about my (be)longing.