Life

Aloha

by 9grace

Okay so as my first post after a long time away from the blog, I thought I’d write something that is relatively significant or meaningful to me.

A while ago my parent watched a movie called “The Fundamentals of Caring”. I had a fair bit of homework to do so I didn’t watch it with them, but I could hear some of it from my bedroom.

At the start, there was a female narrator, and she was addressing helping others (I think). She had a few good quotes, but the one that stuck in my head was a quote for a method for helping others, linking to the abbreviation ‘Aloha’:

Ask,

Listen,

Observe,

Help,

Ask again.

I think it’s really beautiful way to remember it since “Aloha” also means “Hello”. I think It’s also quite a lovely thing to have in your mind, not only for when you are helping people do something, but for everything.

For example, you wouldn’t just go up to someone who looks upset,  give them your thoughts and assume you’ve helped. You’d go up, ask them what’s wrong, listen to what they have to say, and then do what you can to make them feel better. You wouldn’t leave, however, until you had asked again if they were okay, or if they needed anything else.

I think it’s also great for helping yourself. If you’re struggling with something or having a hard time juggling things, you’d ask yourself what you are doing to cause the problem, consider what you are doing and your options, and depending on your situation, you might ask someone else for help.

Although, sometimes it’s hard to help ourselves. We don’t know what to think or how to express yourself, or how to ask for help. There was another quote later in the movie: “My needs are equal to the needs of the person that I am helping, and I cannot help that person any more than I can help myself”. That quote is very important when you are helping yourself or others. If things are bad, you need to get yourself back on track before you can reach out to others, and that’s something I am finding more and more as time goes on.

Umm so yeah, those two quotes have been circling my mind a bit recently, which is why I wrote a blog post about the two. I hope they make a bit of sense!

Yours faithfully,

Grace.

 

Emergency Bedside ‘Kit’

by 9grace

Student Blogging Challenge: Week 4 – Activity 2; ft. Mrs Smith’s post

For one of Mrs Smith’s activities, she asked us to write a post about what we would pack in an emergency bedside kit for if a natural disaster were to occur.

Here, one of the only major natural disasters that occur regularly in or around our region are bushfires. Now, I’m not sure if my family has an emergency kit, but I know that I don’t have a bedside one. I do know, however, what I would grab to take with me in an emergency before I left.

The first thing (after my family) would most definitely be the dog. Even if we do not get anything else out of the house, as long as my family is safe (including pets), everything will be fine.

The second thing I’d grab would be a phone, as well as dad’s two-way if we can get to them. That way we would at least be able to contact people.

The third thing I’d grab would be some water, for obvious reasons.

I would also like to grab my wallet so that we have some money. At least we would be able to buy some food. I would have said a map, but I know that we have a good travelling map in the car which we would take with us or remove from the car on the way out.

For a little while now, I have been putting anything that has a special meaning to me, or that I want to keep special, into a small box next to my bed. It includes letters, photos, trinkets and gifts, some drawings and some of my old journals. If I had time to, this box would probably be the final thing I grabbed before heading out the door.

I often think about what I would do if my family had to evacuate due to an approaching bushfire. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to be thinking about it, we need to be prepared anyway, but if I stick to the subject for too long then I start to stress myself out.

I know that what I have written isn’t exactly an ’emergency bedside kit’ content, but it is what I would take if I had a minute to get out of the house.

Yours faithfully,

Grace

 

Zest Fest Finale

by 9grace
So, the Zest Festival is officially  over. It's been such a beautiful festival and has brought so much joy to so many people over that past five years, I can't believe this year was the last. I've honestly loved being part of the Zest Fest so much that, if it was continuing, it would have been one of the reasons as to why I might have stayed here rather than going to board in Perth next year. Anyway, this year's final Zest Fest really was amazing. I loved every second of it; watching the performances, revisiting memories, and performing myself! As well as the weeks leading up to it. The Kalbarri Comedy Crews sketch went great! It was a bit cheesy, and we forgot some bits, but that is honestly the beauty of improve; it doesn't matter too much, because you're making most of it up! Not to mention, we got nearly, I don't know, perhaps 15 new props that morning that we had never practiced with before, and had to incorporate into the performance. We got lots of laughs from the audience, and we got lots of great comments afterwards. We were all really excited as well! It felt great, everyone loved it, and we had a ball rehearsing and performing! I have to say, the whole crew put in their best efforts in the weeks leading up to the performance, and on that day especially.  Everything went without a hitch! With that, I'd like to give a massive 'thank you' to Bec, you helped me out so much! Thanks for getting me into this! Also to Julian and Jody from The Comedy Emporium. This wouldn't have been possible without your time and devotion. We all loved working with you so, so much! Also thanks a bunch to Meg, Kayden, Samantha, Jordyn, Brearly, and Anzel for being part of the Kalbarri Comedy Crew. I really hope you all had as much fun as I did! Working with all of you was a real privilege. Being project coordinator for the Kalbarri Comedy Crew as well as being able to be part of such a fun project has been so great, and I had an awesome bunch of people to work with. I've made so many great memories! [caption id="attachment_369" align="aligncenter" width="632"]14295473_983237918451766_7458248_n1 All of us dressed up after the performance. Good times :)                                     Me on the far right[/caption] Here is a short video that was (quickly) filmed by Julian during one of our rehearsal breaks (hence why we are all a bit awkward). Still, I think it give a good insight into what went into creating the skits that went into our performance. https://youtu.be/gT6IrLxprsE After the performance, most of the crew went home to rest for an hour or so before heading to Red Bluff for the main performance of the weekend: The Chamber of Rhetoric. That night was spectacular! Everyone came rugged up to sit on the rocks and watch the event. The night opened to a few spectacular pieces by the Perth Symphony Orchestra String Quartet , before we were serenaded by the Giovanni Consort choir/A-Capella group. Next, Red bluff itself was lit up by a projection of familiar, historical, and influential faces. Everyone was then in awe at performing artist Theaker Von Ziarno's daring aerial performance. The dramatic piece was full of heart stopping stunts and beautiful choreography! Finally, I closed the event by reading my poem The Zuytdorp (I will post this soon) as the signal pyre was being lit in the background. The whole night was fascinating! Unfortunately I didn't get to stay for the next day of the Zest Fest as I had to leave for Country Week. Still, I am absolutely baffled at how spectacular the whole weekend was, and how Bec managed to pull it off in a few weeks! I would truly love to be able to create such a gorgeous festival as this when I am older, and I am so utterly grateful to have been part of it. I hope those who were here to experience such a day were able to enjoy it as much as I did. And to those who haven't been able to experience the Zest Festival, I hope I have described it well! If anyone wants to find out more about the Zest Festival, check out some of my other blog posts! (tagged art or zest fest) Some have links to other websites also. Thank you again to all the talented people involved in making the final Zest Festival so memorable! Yours faithfully, Grace

Zest Fest – The Past and Present – Part 2

by 9grace

Ever since I started working with the Zest Fest in 2014, I knew it was something I wanted to continue with. One of my goals has been to do as much as I possibly could for the Zest Festival and myself. I feel like I am somewhat on the path to accomplishing that goal because, as you would have read in the last post, my role has been gradually getting larger. The past two years, however, are nothing compared to the role I am taking on this year.

So far, I have been commissioned with putting together a team of students (including myself) to be part of a comedy performance. I am also responsible for organising timetables and scheduling workshops, rehearsals and training session with the crew and comedians to prepare for the performance. On top of that, I also have to keep a record and journal of the comedy workshops and performance, etc. to file a report on once the Zest Festival is over. I have previously written references (see my last post) and am currently half way through writing an application for a grant to fund the comedy workshops, performance, etc. Oh, almost forgot, I will also be MC (Master of Ceremonies – one who organises a social occasion; who introduces speakers or those in a performance) for the comedy performance! Furthermore, I will be constructing and creating props, as well as being a lead puppeteer for the main performance. This is going to mean even more rehearsals and training sessions on top of those for the comedy performance.

Turns out, I will be doing more than $500+ of voluntary work for the Zest Festival. It’s a lot, but majority of the time it is a privilege to be able to have such a massive role in something so amazing. It really doesn’t feel like work when you love what you are doing.

Now the Zest Festival is not until the weekend of week 9 – term 3, and major preparation has already begun! This means that those involved will be working on the Zest Fest from now until the end of September. This is perfectly fine by me, the only thing I am a little bit worried about is that I might struggle keeping on top of my school and workload at the same time. I definitely know that I will get nearly no school work done in weeks 8 and 9! (sorry teachers!)

The Zest Fest really is amazing. It has provided me with so many great experiences in the short time that I have been involved. Below is a photo of me in 2015, sitting in the Shogun’s lap. The Shogun, originally the goddess Kali in 2014, but transformed for the 2015 performance, is a nearly 4-metre-tall puppet constructed with bamboo and cane. He was one of the main characters in that year performance and narrator of the story.

image

17th September, 2015: Me sitting in the lap of the mighty Shogun!

I don’t have the official dates and times of the performances or the Zest Festival yet, but I will post them on the blog when I have access to them. I really hope everyone comes down to the festival to see all the amazing performances and events. We really do have a great line up for this year’s festival and it’s something you don’t want to miss!

So, that’s all from me for now.

Yours faithfully,

Grace

Zest Fest – The Past and Present – Part 1

by 9grace

 

So, I know this post might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it is about something I am very passionate about and proud of, which is why I am posting it on my blog. (Oh, by the way, because this is a very long entry I have decided to publish it as two blog posts instead of one)

Anyway, anyone who is anyone and lives in Kalbarri will know that the Kalbarri Zest Festival is coming up soon, and that’s a pretty big thing, right!?

To anyone who hasn’t experienced a Kalbarri Zest Fest, it really is amazing. I’ve had so many wonderful experiences with the Zest Fest and there are so many things that I love about it, but I guess I had better start from the start.

Below is a copy of a letter of support or reference that I wrote for the Kalbarri Development Association Inc. and Artistic Director of the Zest Festival to include in some grants. It basically explains my experiences with the Zest Festival and what it means to me.

To Whom It May Concern:

My name is Grace Crogan, I am 14 and in year 9 at Kalbarri District High School. Ever since I was young I have had a strong passion for visual and performing arts. As a student living regionally, I am sometimes restricted to what the town and school can offer me as far as opportunities for me to develop my artistic skills. The Kalbarri Zest Festival is a rare and extremely appreciated opportunity for me to do so, and I would like to share with you what the festival means to me and how much I enjoyed being part of it!

2014 was my first year with the Kalbarri Zest Festival. I originally auditioned for a role as one of the main characters in the performance, however I ended up with an equally rewarding and exciting role of helping create, build and direct one of the massive 3-metre-tall puppets for the festival. I also walked alongside the puppet during the performance, manoeuvring one of its very large arms. It was such an amazing and rewarding experience. It was my first time working with puppets and after the performance I knew it definitely wouldn’t be the last. I’d just had my first taste of puppeteering, and it tasted delicious!

In 2015, once I found out that the performance was going to include puppetry again I couldn’t wait to become involved. I would often go down to the workshop to help out creating and constructing props for the performance. It was something I loved doing both then and the year before because it gave me a chance to do something with my art skills. Best of all I was often given creative authority over what the prop could look like, so long as it met the needed criteria. This gave me an opportunity to test and extend some of my art skills, something I’m not often given the chance to do. To me this was a rare and precious privilege!

The style of puppets we were operating are called Bunraku puppets. They are life-sized with two or three puppeteers manoeuvring each. One operating the head and right arm, another operating the torso and left arm, and another operating the legs. In our case, we only had two puppeteers to each, so the puppets had robes and skirts to give the illusion of legs. Our puppets were handmade at the workshop, carved out of foam and given bamboo and fabric joints, as well as bamboo rods.

I was elated when I was asked if I could be the head puppeteer for one of the two main puppets, it was the only thing I had been thinking about for the past few weeks. For a couple of weeks my friend and I were put through some basic exercises and workshops to get us warmed up to working with the puppets. After a few weeks of workshops and call outs we finally had a puppetry team ready for training! I couldn’t wait!

Our Puppeteer training and rehearsals started even before the puppets were constructed. Starting out casual but soon becoming more intense as we only had a few weeks to prepare for the performance. Our rehearsals and training often started straight after school and went on until dark. As head puppeteer I controlled the head (thus also directing the torso) and right arm of the puppet. This position meant I was holding my arms level and sometimes above my head for long periods of time, hence the weeks of training to build up our strength. Although tiring, I absolutely loved every second of rehearsals and training. Not only was I learning new things everyday about puppetry and performance, but I was also developing relationships with people that I will forever hold treasured in my heart.

Over the course of rehearsals and training, we focused a lot on feeling tension in the puppet, and learning how to move with the puppet as one and not just as two puppeteers and a bunch of foam. I think that one of the goals in learning puppeteering was to not just control the puppet, but to become the puppet, and during the performance, to live as the puppet. It might not have been said out loud, but I feel as though that is what it all boiled down to. At the end of each rehearsal when we placed the puppet down, I always had a small feeling as if I was leaving something behind. So, I guess I must have been doing something right!

When the production night finally came everyone was ecstatic. The performance went smoothly with only a couple hiccups. In the performance, the puppet I was operating, named Hiraku, was one of the main characters – a Japanese Samurai, The Shogun’s advisor, and brother to one of the other puppets – Katashi. There were many difficult interactions between Hiraku and Katashi, as well as other puppets and characters. Towards the end of the performance, there was a dramatic fight scene where Hiraku had to try defend himself against five other samurai, in the end, Hiraku was killed. As Hiraku received the last blow, I heard a few small gasps from the audience. Though I could barely see because of the blinding lights, I managed to make out that a couple of people were crying.

When I finally put the puppet down after the performance, I felt a mixture of great excitement, as well as sadness. I had spent weeks and weeks preparing for this performance and it had come and gone so quickly. I almost wanted to do it all over again.

At the end of the performance I was told multiple times that people watching had been so entranced by the performance, they completely forgot that there were people operating the puppets. It felt amazing to know that I had succeeded at my task. At the conclusion of the 2015 Zest Fest I had made many close friends and wonderful memories. It was such a great experience and it means so much to me.

The Kalbarri Zest Festival is a great opportunity for the whole town to get involved in something great. Even in school, we spend weeks leading up to the Zest Festival learning about whatever topic the current year’s Zest Fest is about. The year of 2016 has only just begun and already I can’t wait for this year’s Zest Festival. Even more so, I cannot wait for my chance to be even more involved. The Kalbarri Zest Festival is supposed to be about bringing the community together to have a good time, to celebrate, and the learn in an engaging way about the VOC – Dutch East Indian Trading Company, the Zuytdorp and Batavia wreckages along our coastlines, as well as what values and traditions have been brought to our country by the people who have settled here. To me, the Zest Fest means all of this, and so much more. To me, it means bringing the community together to create something beautiful, that has been recognized even in some other countries! It means helping out, creating friends, having a laugh, learning new thing, doing things I never thought I would do as well as things I love doing most, and creating memories I will treasure forever.

So, now you know just how much I love the Kalbarri Zest Festival and what it means to me.

Sincerely,

Grace Crogan

Kalbarri District High School

For the rest of this post read: Zest Fest – The Past and Present – Part 2

 

My Inspiration

by 9grace

I know this is late, but I was unable to post any earlier because my internet at home isn’t working.

Okay so this week, I was particularly struggling with coming up with a post.

Well, I did start a post to be honest. I wrote another poem – 5 stanzas, 13 lines each – but it was so sad and depressing and provoking that if I were to post it on the blog it might cause some concerns.

Luckily for you, you don’t get to read it!

Instead, I’ve been looking at the ‘blog post ideas sheet’ and I want to write about some people who have inspired me throughout my life. There are 3 people to be specific: My Mother, my Grandmother, and Bec (whose last name I won’t mention). They are, to me, my anchors. If I’m having a hard time, or I don’t know what to do, or if I’m thinking about just forgetting responsibilities, they are the three people who, above all else, keep me on track.

My Mum is my world; she is my mentor, my guide, my teacher, my friend, my reality check, and everything else in between. Mum always strives to do her best. She is an all rounded super human who can – almost always – do anything you ask of her. Mum had an amazing work ethic and a stubbornness for not settling for anything less than ‘above satisfactory’ (probably where I get it from to be honest). She is also a juggling-multi-tasking-working-whizz. Like all mums, she can be embarrassing. But, I still love her to bits!

My Grandmother is so, so strong! She knows what she wants to do, and she knows what she has to do. If something isn’t worth worrying about, or it’s not important right now, it doesn’t bother her. She always seems to have everything under control, and even when things are tough she pushes through, and she gets things done! I really, really wish I had her calm, stable mindset.

Bec is amazing. For the last few years she has been a major, major source for my artistic inspiration. The Zest Fest, doing workshops, writing grants and references, learning new techniques, puppetry, and so much more. She is also someone who has given me a great deal of help in developing a lot of skills. It’s something that I will always be grateful for.

All in all, the three people I’ve mentioned above are so important to me, and I think of each and every one of them every day. Some people say that ‘you become the people that you are influenced by most’. In a sense, I really hope that is even just a little bit true because they all have such wonderful qualities, and I wouldn’t mind taking on some of them.

There are so, so many people that inspire me, but I think that, overall, Mum, my Grandmother and Bec are the three most influential in my life.

So, that’s me for this week. I’ll do another post soon.

Yours faithfully,

Grace

Life is a Journey

by 9grace

One of the most common questions I am asked by people is “what do you want to do when you are older?”

This question always stumps me. I’ll often answer with something like “oh, I don’t really know” or “I’m interested in a lot of things”. But the truth is, how am I to know what I want to be when I grow up, if I don’t even know what I want to do now!

This is actually something that has been on my mind for a while now. You see, a few years ago, when I was in Year 7, I thought I had it all figured out. I thought I wanted to go away to John Curtin or Perth Modern or some amazing art school. I thought I wanted to pursue a career in the visual arts. I didn’t want to perform or dance, I didn’t like writing, I just wanted to be accepted into somewhere bigger!

Now, I’m not sure I want to leave… The other night, I was tossing up the good and bad of going away to a school in Perth. Turns out, there are more things here that I would miss than the new things and opportunities I would have in Perth. I would miss the beach. I would miss the quiet. I would miss the freedom. I would miss the safety to walk around town by myself. I would miss a lot of things.

Now, I’m not even sure if the visual arts are what I want to create a future from. The last two years of the Zest Fest have given me so many opportunities and have taught me so much. Now, I do want to perform, I like writing and journaling, I like dancing, I like being in a small school.

Recently, I’ve also discovered a lot of new things that I am really quite keen to have a go at. Things like slam poetry and puppeteering and photography. I have always loved the arts, and I think I am just starting to discover how diverse that area is. All of my new interests are somehow connected to or involve the arts, whether they be completely ordinary or extremely unusual.

I guess, the lesson I’ve learnt – and that I’m still learning, is that your interests change with time. I thought I was set, I thought I knew what I was interested in and what I wanted to do. But, I really don’t know at all.

Yesterday, I came across a quote by Fabienne Fredrickson.

Know what you want to doI have to disagree with what she is saying here. Just because I don’t know what I want, doesn’t mean I haven’t already succeeded at life.

I don’t really care that I don’t know what I want to do at the moment. But I don’t see that as a failure.

I am happy with where I am right now. I am content with the way things are at school and home. I love where I live. I love that I have the opportunity to try as many new things as I want until I reach my heart’s desire and finally find out exactly what I want to do. I don’t know what I want, but I am, happy, and I’m enjoying life! That…that is what I call a success.

This morning, I came across another quote, this time by Ralph Waldo Emerson. I thought that was beautiful!

Maybe you do have a destination, or a goal that your heart is set to achieve, and that is excellent! Maybe you don’t know what you want to do right this second. It doesn’t matter!

Life is a journey. It’s something that needs exploring. It should take you places that you never thought you would go! Show you things you never thought you would see and give you opportunities you never thought you would experience.

Well, those are my thoughts on “life choices”. Let me know yours!

Yours faithfully

Grace.