Home.

I'm home from my amazing trip abroad. Here are some thoughts:
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So…one week post Middle-East-Iraqi-refugee-experience. I feel lost… a bit like a refugee myself. A bit.

Trying to wrap my brain around the experience is not easy. New York looks different. My friends seem new. All I have seems shocking. And after only three short weeks! I’m trying to spend each day growing back into my skin without losing the skin I have acquired from the Iraqis we met. I don’t want to lose what I experienced in their skin. This urban refugee crisis screams for attention, although the refugees are not. They are quietly waiting…for something to change…6 years later…

The refugees, social workers and children swirl around my head. I keep thinking about Majid and his 4 beautiful children and his brother who was shot and killed in the passenger seat right next to him. And I think about once famous boxer and artist who came from a family of artists who are now scattered all over the world. I think about his need to tell his story on his terms—the way he wanted it heard--the threatening letters, the dismembered bodies, his inability to create anything artistic anymore, the disclosure that he felt like a bat—only coming out at night. I think about the woman whose husband abandoned her and her daughter in Damascus and who wouldn’t let us take her picture, not because of fear of persecution, but because she no longer feels beautiful. I think about the poet we met, who was also a victim of intense torture, and who chose to share a love poem with us. A love poem.

And I think about the artists displaced in Damascus because art is dead in Baghdad. And I think about the hopeful Iraqi teens and young adults who are brave enough to believe in a future with education, a future of college in America. And I think about the children, always the children-- who look up at me with empty, confused eyes that have seen what children should never see.
This is what I think about now that I am back. These people who did nothing wrong but survive and flee—becoming refugees of our choice, OUR country. This is the face of our war in Iraq. This is the fallout. I feel the weight of responsibility to tell their stories as a call to action. After all, this is our mess to clean up.

I also think about the arab woman I accidentally clocked in the head at the airport in Amman and the fact I said “Shukran” (Arabic for ‘thank you’) to her instead of “excuse me” or “I’m sorry” before walking away and boarding my flight. Cut me some slack. Arabic is hard!



Stay tuned for how you can help or go now to:
http://www.thelistproject.org/
http://www.ninemillion.org/
http://www.refugeesinternational.org/

Wanna join me in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria?

The Iraqi refugee crisis is one of the most under reported humanitarian crisis in recent history, with almost 5 million Iraqis displaced from their homes, many living as illegal migrants abroad, unable to work or access health care and other social services.

Intersections has brought together a delegation of creative artists (including me: Kim Schultz, yours truly) for a trip thru Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria to meet with Iraqi refugees and various humanitarian agencies to obtain a more complete understanding of this crisis.

Once the artists return to New York they will craft a multi-media presentation about their experience. The team will work in the Middle East October 2-17.

Follow me on the blog:
http://iraqivoices.intersectionsinternational.org/

All participants on this trip will be contributing to the blog. Follow our journey into bringing attention to the Iraqi voices....

First Thought, Best Thought

I don't think my blog should be the only one you read! This is the WORLD WIDE WEB after all!
The following blog link really dovetails nicely with improv philosophy. First thoughts, first instincts tend to be most organic, most true, I believe. Enjoy!

http://www.tricycle.com/23september2009

Yes.

These last few days, I have been shooting a promo for a TV show I am talking about with a couple of producers who are interested. They asked for this. It's been a great opportunity and I find myself wondering how did I get here?

Hmm..... Doodeley doodeley doodeley! (That's time travel music for you neophites.)

I was drinking beer with a friend at a party and she said you should turn your show into a tv show. I said yes. I started writing. I met with my current partner and asked her if she wanted to come onboard for the project. She said yes. She said we should meet and talk regularly. I said yes. I said, "I think we should start shopping it." She said yes. I asked if an industry friend would look at the idea. She said yes. Industry friends gave notes. I said yes. Sent it to LA producer I knew. He said yes. He sent it to a fellow producer friend he had. He said yes if he could see a promo. I said yes. I made a video piece and sent it to producer. He said no. Doh! Make another. I said yes. We made another. Today. This weekend. And now we wait...for him to say yes....

Yes moves everything forward. What can you say yes to today? What won't happen if you don't?

Giving the Iraqi refugees a voice.

Iraqi Voices Amplification Project (IVAP)

Kim has begun preliminary research on a new project concerning the Iraqi refugee crisis. She has been invited by a social justice organization, Intersections International, to travel to the Middle East to interview Iraqi refugees and then write and perform in a multi-disciplinary play about the experience-- shedding light on an altogether under- reported crisis. Tentative premiere date February 2010.


FROM THE INTERSECTIONS WEBSITE:In October 2009, Intersections will travel to Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria with a small group of prominent artists-photographers, filmmakers, musicians, and new media specialists- for the purpose of meeting and interacting with displaced Iraqis and hearing their stories. Upon return, Intersections will début the artist's work that results from the visit as part of a national campaign to draw attention to this most pressing issue.

www.intersectionsinternational.org/amplifyingiraqirefugeevoices

...and it all came about through improv.....just say yes.

Break the Rules!

In improv, there are no rules. In life there are many rules.



In improv, people try to create rules, because it's easier to try to figure out the right way to do something, instead of your way...in the moment. In life, there are many rules. We live by rules often blindly, not even knowing how strongly they affect us.



In improv, I encourage students to break rules, to follow their imagination, intinct, gut--not the way they think it should be done, or the way other people do it. In life, there are certain rules we must follow (laws, common sense etc.) But then there are the rules that only WE decided we need to follow; rules that somewhere along the line we decided were true about us or our abilities.



What are those rules for you? What rules are you living your life by that only YOU say you have to? What rules can you break? What new vistas can be discovered in your life by breaking them---by pushing yourself past what you think you can/should do and living out on a limb, or on the edge of a cliff for a while. Sure it's scary, but isn't all good stuff at first?

Improv is just a big POTLUCK!

So....back in Minnesota...from where I hail, hang my hat, call home...we have a little custom called the potluck. Everyone brings a dish---a tator tot hotdish or a cucumber salad or some rhubarb barssss (said with a Minnesotan accent and a lot of soft sssss's...barssss) and we all eat, visit and eat some more. It's fun! Really! It's also rude to show up to a potluck empty handed, to just eat and not contribute. And since Minnesotans are nice, everyone brings a dish. Improv is just like that!

What? Huh? Did you have too many barsssss Kim?

A good improv scene means everyone brings something. First person initiates a strong start, 2nd person reacts bringing their point of view to the idea building it up. A third person entrance also gifts something. We all bring something to the scene or we stay out. That way the scene becomes juicy and delicious---like my tuna hotdish!

Every person has a gift in improv. Bring your point of view/reaction/heighten move/gift to the next scene you're in...in life or on stage. Never show up empty handed!