writing a script.

Part of the trip is performance, and performance in the context of culture. Our first stop in PNG will be at the Martin Luther Seminary in Lae, where we'll be hanging out with students and telling them our stories, as well as how they can use stories to make points in sermons and in interactions with others. Later in the trip, when we move into the highlands, we'll be traveling and performing with the National Performing Arts troupe. They will teach us some of their native stories and dances, and we will reciprocate.

(When I say "we", I mean "them". I won't be performing. No way. I'll be writing)

So we needed to decide what we wanted to share with the PNG performers. What was the quintessential American folk tale? What was our story? We wanted to share what impacts us and what our culture is. We threw around ideas of fairy tales, parables, and wild west folk tales. And during this time, we laughed and discussed, debated and pondered. And finally came out with the story of King Midas.

Midas and his golden touch isn't really native to America, but one could say that few stories are truly unique to any one culture. But the Midas tale is one that nearly every American child knows, and one that is dear to our hearts. The moral is one that we respect, but never truly master until it's too late: greed leads to pain. Obsession leads to loss. Materialism leads to destruction. And yet we still pursue the golden touch, convinced that this time it'll be different.

So a group of us started talking about creating a script for Midas. The first thing we needed to do was share the original story. We cannot assume that PNG knows the same stories we do. Then we wanted to make it personal, show how this happens in the corporate world and our everyday lives. We needed to apply it to our own lives; we needed to incriminate ourselves and remind ourselves what we can lose.

We talked, and then our time was up. And I got home, did my homework, went to bed at 11:30. I couldn't sleep. I was thinking about the ideas I had for the script, the different elements we talked about, what it would sound like and look like. I had no choice but to get out of bed and write.

Two hours later, I had a 7 page script. It incorporated what we discussed in class, and it was FUN to write. It's been a while since I was truly excited to write something creative. Something that I happily lost sleep over. And then I started getting nervous.

This is different. This is vulnerable. I have to let others into my process, give my words up for critique. And this is something I've never done before; I usually wait until I'm good at something before I let others see me do it. Not only that, others will see it performed. My words may touch someone, or they may fall flat. Either way, I get to watch it.

The first class period after I wrote the script was scary. Rhett, the director, had feedback, my fellow students had feedback. I needed to take it in, not take it personally, and try something new. And I did.

The script is still a work in process, and it will continue to be for a bit longer. But I'm proud that I actually feel like I belong on this trip for once, that I'm part of it and that it needs me. They all need me. It's a good feeling.