<p>I’m perfectly willing to believe that is true, for what most people consider a “major career.” If things work out, she’ll go to a program that helps her get connections, provides the showcase opportunities, and puts her in the middle of a fertile professional community.</p>
<p>I also know from my own experience in the arts, from people incorporating the arts into all kinds of life choices, career choices, creative motivations, that it’s a big world out there. I grew up in the east, and have bounced back and forth between it and the midwest until the years are almost equal. Wonderful things happen all over the country. </p>
<p>I’m not going to put any pressure on my D to have an “all or nothing” attitude about theater. If that’s how she feels about it, and she pursues it with that kind of intensity, I hope we can help her as much as possible, and we’ll certainly support her with love and encouragement. </p>
<p>But if she wants to teach theater to non-English-speaking preschoolers while she waits tables or has (eek) a corporate job, that’s great. If she can support herself somehow and write plays at night, that’s great, too. If she joins one of the tremendous theater companies in Wisconsin, or Minnesota, or Chicago, (or any other part of America) that would be fantastic. She’ll have to make her life. I’m not that worried about that part.</p>
<p>We might have to agree to disagree, but I think it’s a big world and a long life and lots of things happen in lots of ways. What I know she wants now is to feast happily on a theater education somewhere she feels good about what she’s doing. We’ll manage that.</p>
<p>I firmly believe that “success” in the arts needs to be defined broadly and generously. It should be based on the individual’s feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction.</p>