Defiant & Fired Up!

This year, Lumir Hladik (Associate Artistic Director of Theatre InspiraTO) and I, revisited the key message for our theatre company.  We came up with a new tagline. By no means does an organization, business or individual need a tagline. I wanted a tagline that was more than a catchy marketing phrase and one that really spoke to our philosophy. We came up with Defiant & Fired Up!

Defiant

…is an interesting word. To me defiance is being disobedient to the forces that squashes our spirit to create. However, defiance is not denial. When we deny reality, or the presence of fear, we become delusional. Too many times we walk around thinking we’re invincible. Susan Zeder in her book, Spaces of Creation, summarizes the approach, “The first step in dealing with fear, then, is to recognize its presence, to call it by name, to draw its shape and dimension, to recognize the sound of its voice. To touch the face of fear is to get close enough to spit in its eye.”

Fired Up

I am using “fired up” more as an active verb (not adjective), a call to action: to lift, to launch, to mobilize. To be inspired to act. To let go of perfection. In pursuing one’s art, one’s pulse to create, we take a hard look at all the steps required and act. We stay humble despite of, or inspite of, some of the difficult choices ahead of us.

Implied in the tagline or “mantra”  is a reminder on why we’re doing what we’re doing.

Choose your own personal mantra

Can you come up with your own mantra? Something that will remind you of your own personal philosophy. I recommend choosing two, maybe three words, but not more. Being succinct works best. The words can be adjectives (as I’ve done) or verbs or a combination. Play with the words. Rearrange them. Don’t get too literal. What’s more important is your intent behind the words. How will the words make you feel? What will they remind to do? Who will they remind you to be?

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