My guiding principles in this work are calls into community, willful vulnerability, and compassion for self and others. I invite you to hold me accountable me when I stray.

1. Creating compassionately.

I am so grateful Jules Odendahl-James suggested Kāli Quinn’s I Am Compassionate Creativity. Quinn’s 111 Values are both daily action items and a roadmap. When I’m stuck, I find guidance here.

2. Playing intentionally.

Brian Sutton-Smith’s Play for Life holds goodness about the importance of lifelong play in thriving and human growth.

3. Holding Space.

I first heard this phrase in context of palliative care, but it applies in creative arenas, as well. Allowing others transformative space and reserving judgment allows for deeper possibilities than I imagine going in on my own. Heather Plett describes the process and values well.

4. Amplifying Voices.

“Look around at the tables you occupy. Ask who is missing and why.”
– Evelyn Myrie (Women’s March, Hamilton, Ontario, January 21, 2017)

  • In collaborative work, I promise to listen to experiences that are unlike mine. Analisa Dias and Madeline Sayet’s have created an instructive primer on decentering colonial voice: Decolonizing Theatre series on HowlRound.
  • In solo work, I will focus on raising the concerns of the marginalized communities in which I participate.
  • In story curation, I am committed to finding and sharing stories that centre BIPOC characters and varied life experiences and move toward normalizing representation, so kids and adults on the storytime blanket are better prepared to celebrate difference and counter hate with curiosity and compassion. (See also: The danger of a single story, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.)