Pomp & Circumstance
A night of Nostalgia. Part 1/3 of Undergrad: A series on ending well.
If you missed the memo… O&W embarked on a transition of sorts this summer. Pomp & Circumstance was the kickoff event, a celebratory evening with many thanks to everyone who had supported Older & Wiser over the last 4 years.
It was an absolutely stunning night of 80+ glamorous people closing one chapter and beginning another in the gorgeous Capitol Theater at the Appell Center for the Performing Arts
What you missed…
The Appell let us project our own recap video in their vintage theater ft. a few clips of Behind the Scenes from previous O&W projects as well as a personal reflection on my journey as an artist.
The level of interconnectedness, congratulations, and community was palpable, and the opportunity to share my heart in the midst was such a privilege. You can hear some of the ramblings from my sentimental speech, and catch a glimpse of what the environment was like in the video below!
Partial Transcript:
That was just a sliver of over 65 shoots, projects, and events that O&W has crafted over the last 4 years and a peek into the juxtaposition of an artist experiencing their own reality within the creation of another.
So often we see the end result, and we think it was devised in a great swell of glorious inspiration, but really– the things we cherish and remember, the things that had impact, are things that were birthed out of great force. A crushing weight, a huge impact, or a resistance against oppression. We create the most potent art when we see beauty in adversity and look directly into the face of our greatest fears; willingly recognizing, nothing is free, nothing is easy, nothing cost nothing.
What will you give in exchange for your art? Is your art worth giving anything up for? It’s easy to observe all the hype, the big things, and think that’s all there is… Bigness. But you only understand the big picture when you first perceive smallness.
This internal world, this struggle within is like a baby in the womb, ready to burst out and live life not realizing it is life itself. Untouched, untarnished, like new. The very thing a later version of itself will desperately wish to go back to.
Art is ideas. And we have to learn to recognize ideas before they are born, to slow down and be mindful of growth and development before the rest of the world sees it manifested.
We live in a culture where content and consumerism rules creation, forgetting where creativity truly stems from—a creator so personal that He knit us together in our mother’s womb, seeing potential in the unformed, beauty in the darkness, expectation in the faintness of a barely human, human.
That DNA, that intermingling of divine is still in our veins, and it’s what I lean into to create anything of worth.
It’s my first time being human, and I have just as many questions as you, but I’m learning to be less afraid to ask them, hoping for answers that give courage to press on in a world more daunting day by day.
Art is the overflow of self exploration. If you’re in this room and you consider yourself an artist or a creative, please understand understand you will NEVER stay the same. YOU simply won’t allow it. You will always need to shift and change, and question, and revel, and imagine a better possibility… you are a seeker and that is your great gift.
You are one of the courageous ones looking to understand our human experience, looking to understand yourself, to know beauty, to find truth. You are needed and your voice is not just your own, it is the whispers of many others who have not yet learned to speak.
Don’t let the fear of failure, or the weariness that accompanies shifting seasons ever stop you completely. Look change dead in the face and realize, it is your friend, teacher, comfort, and constant companion.
You’ll have to listen for the rest of it ;)
The finale of the night was FINALLY getting to experience a “TEDtalk” of sorts from Tom Ryan of Boom Creative on creativity!
And of course, there’s alwaysssss gonna be a photographer snooping around somewhere! Check out the looks of the evening here and download images of yourself and your beautiful friends!
This night was truly one of the most breathless, precious nights of my career with this company. And yet, the moments I treasure most are the small, everyday moments that led up to all of THIS. All those people showed up because they showed up before and to know that even in a room of 80-100 people that’s only a fraction of the support system I had the privilege of stepping into over the past few years.
If you made it this far…. Thank you.
And thank you for being a part of my journey. I never knew what to expect and I still don’t, but knowing that you’ve seen me in the midst of it is such a comfort and honor.
I put this video at the end, because I blushed and cried and had my heart swell far too much when these words of recognition were spoken at Pomp. But I think it’s important to let humility be blended with gratitude… I am grateful to have had leaders like Tom in my life, those who are farrrrr ahead of me, and willing to call out the good in me so I have courage to keep going.
