Intermission
a creative coffee break from writing the play

I was tougher than they thought…

Buchanan Dying, by John Updike

John Updike, March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009

I feel as though I’ve awoken on the most amazing Christmas day ever.

Words do inspire.

Barack Obama, New Hampshire Debate, January 5, 2008

Thanks again to everyone who joined us last Monday night for the first One-Minute Creative Coffee Break Meditation. We had a blast!

We see our meditation as a kind of ghost light keeping a lamp lit for our creative work, our inspiration, and for our stages wherever and whatever they may be.

Our band of playwright friends will host the meditation on a rotating basis. We don’t know in advance what the other will present so each meditation is a surprise to all of us. Thanks, my friends, for allowing me to go first.

To signup for the next meditation, please click here.

Listen to the first OMCCB meditation: Art Pays (Note: the file is just under 2MB and may take a few moments for it to load, depending on your browser and computer setup.)

Okay, so there I was all logged on for our first OMCCB, happily inflicting some lovely Sondheim music upon our callers as we waited for the meditation to begin, and I begin to wonder why there was no “we.” It was just me. Alone.

Well, not that alone. I’m not alone alone. I mean: no one is on the phone with me. This can’t be. Even my band of friends are missing in action!

Uh… and as I’m tapping along to Bounce, feeling the appropriateness of that title song, I realize I have called into a conference number that no one knows about. Uh, like the wrong number even. I hang up and call the number everyone is patiently hanging out on, way more than five minutes late, and we get to it. More than a minute. Yup. And then we all fell down the Rabbit Hole.

So sorry, my daring OMCCB’ers. For those of you who waited, thank you, thank you, thank you. It was cool.

To receive the telephone instructions for the Jan 12 One Minute Creative Coffee Break Meditation, please click here to sign-up.

This is a hosted event and your participation is merely to be, well, present.

Come on, no one will even know you’re there. Surprise yourself!

Our meditation is intended in the classical sense as

a spoken or written discourse treated in a contemplative manner and intended to express its author’s reflections.

from the Merriam-Webster

The idea of the OMCCB Meditation is to focus, if only for a minute once a month, our collective minds upon a higher thought about Art and Entertainment.

To get on the email list for the 2nd Monday of the month OMCCB Meditation, that page is here…

We invite you to join us for a series of monthly One-Minute Creative Coffee Breaks during 2009. “We” are a band of playwright friends.

We call our one-minute coffee break a Meditation. We see this as a mindful moment focusing collective consciousness; not religious yet perhaps spiritual.

an experiment during which we focus our highest thought upon Art and Entertainment

We do not have answers about how to bring your work to the stage, or bring to life whatever creative form floats your boat.

We believe our work, whether it’s called entertainment, distraction, art, or social/political challenge, is as necessary as bread on the table.

We call our Meditation an experiment during which we traveling troubadours, jesters, groundlings, housekeepers, actors and scribes focus our highest thought upon Art and Entertainment. We call this Meditation a time for a concentrated thought on the place of the Artist and Entertainer in our society.

Just for a minute. Once a month.

We know at the very least our Meditations will personally entertain and uplift our band of friends, helping to carry on our creativity, our creative work, and our creative challenges. We hope that experience will be true for you, too.

And remember, we’re Dramatists. We’re not calling for a minute of silence.

Whether you define yourself as a writer, an artist, or an entertainer all are welcome to participate. You are in fact invited.

WHEN:
Monday, Jan 12, 2009
7:30 PST [Convert to your time zone]

HOW: By telephone
You must sign up here to receive the teleconference instructions.
You will be sent instructions by 6:30am PST.

COST: NONE. Well, except perhaps your phone call.