The Manifesto of Jason W

  
This post was inspired by my work with OutLook Theater Project. As part of our annual retreat, OutLook asked it company members, "What do you want out of OutLook?" I started journalling my response. Then, I realized this is what I need out of anything I am involved in. So it has become a sort of manifesto in what I want to accomplish in my life and how I want to accomplish it.

Read on dear readers, and I hope you enjoy The Manifesto of Jason W.

*****
I love the written word. I love performance. I love rhetoric. I love media. I love narrative. I love storytelling. I love community. I am not an actor.

I want a vehicle to translate literature I write into multi-media performances that transform non-traditional venues into spaces of creativity, fun, community, inquiry, and inspiration. I want to be bold and large in the creation of these works innovatively applying performance into life. I want to explore experimental techniques and deepen my inquiry skills. I do not want boxed art.

I am willing to give my whole self including my vast administrative skills in return for input into creative direction and pay for grant-related work. I am able to donate five hours per month specifically related to large picture planning and development. I am looking to be part of a team where each member holds equal weight and responsibility. I am not looking for inequitable power distribution.

I need regularly scheduled meetings to ensure accountability of work getting done. I need a dedicated pool of people who step up and step back in equal measure and have ideas, support the work of others, and seek connections between ideas to create depth and breadth. I need fun, exploration, creativity, passion, communication, and commitment. I need to feel and know that those doing the work are also seeking ways to connect that work beyond a singular organization finding opportunities to strengthen, grown and transform the queer community and identity. I need a balance of selfishness and selflessness. I do not need flakiness.

When paid, I want the pay to be an equitable, strategic investment. I want pay parity across the board for any and all work done. I want budget transparency. I want a not for profit model that actually pays people what they are worth. I want to leave the field and society at large in innovative ways to create performance and to build a model of economic revenue that invests that revenue back into the community. I do not want business as usual or to buy in to the non profit industrial machine.

I believe we can achieve all of this. I believe that doing so will take work. I believe that a strengths-based approach is a foundational model we can build upon, and that we must also address the work that needs to be done even when no one at the table wants to do of has the current skill set. I believe accomplishing all of this will take years. I do not believe it is impossible.

I recognize that to realize all of this means putting some things at the forefront and other things on the back burner. I recognize that we are a group with multiple voices and perspectives, and we may not share the same vision. I recognize that there will be compromise. I recognize that feelings will get hurt. I recognize there will be challenges. I will not recognize that al of these things cannot be overcome.

Share |