The Virus That Shall Not Be Named - A Touring Artist Survival Guide

I have been out of town since Monday morning. I've been in hotels and schools all over North Carolina. After my shows in Concord this morning, I had a four-hour drive in front of me to Roanoke Rapids. Since the route took me past my house, I decided to dip in, have some lunch, chat with my grown children, and then continue on my way.

I'd just started taking the first half of the week's laundry and such out of the car when I got the call that my shows for tomorrow have been canceled because of the virus that shall not be named.

My first thought...I GET THE DAY OFF!

Now, I like telling stories, but let me explain.

February is intense for African American artists because at times it feels like the month is trying to kill us. The joke I have is that even people who don't know they need any kind of performer suddenly need a black one.

It is one of those feast or famine types of things where February is a feast! By the end of the month, I'm pretty wiped.

The buzz word for February for me is SELFCARE!

I spend the month indulging in taking care of myself so I can end the month healthy and ready for Women's History Month, which - since I stopped doing historical reenactments of Sojourner Truth, Phyllis Wheatley, and Madam CJ Walker - is not only doable but downright enjoyable.

Then, the virus that shall not be named started racing around the world. People are part freaking out, part being cautious, and part being in denial.

Only you know where you land on that spectrum.

So, I thought I'd do a quick self-care and suggestion guide for touring artists based on the most up to date information I have.

So, here goes.

1 - If you don't have any savings, now is the time to put some by!

There is a chance that if you work in the schools, or in community situations your shows will be canceled. If you can put every other gig check in a savings account, I would do that for now. We don't typically have sick leave or paid days off. Prepare!

That's not always possible, but if you can, now is the time!

2 - Our scientists think that surface contact is a possible way this thing is spreading.

The current science says:

source

How long the new coronavirus can live on a soft surface — and more importantly, how easy or hard it is to spread this way — isn’t clear yet. So far, available evidence suggests it can be transmitted less easily from soft surfaces than frequently-touched hard surfaces, such as a doorknob or elevator button.

According to the WHO, coronaviruses may survive on surfaces for just a few hours or several days,  although many factors will influence this, including surface material and weather.

That’s why personal preventive steps like frequently washing hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, and wiping down often-touched surfaces with disinfectants or a household cleaning spray, are a good idea.

Recommendation? 

If you have a portable container hand sanitizer, use it every single time you encounter a touchpad! There are touchpads in the grocery store, schools, at banks, at the gas station etc..

We are out traveling around and using community services more than others since we are constantly pumping gas or riding public conveyance. So, be aware of what and where your hands are. If you can't get to a bathroom and some soap, use that hand sanitizer!

3 - Don't shake people's hands!

I bump elbows. Do what you think is best, but understand that people are still offering their hands. It is a habit. I have avoided so many handshakes this week!

Recommendation?

There are lots of options as this ridiculous article in Forbes Magazine suggests. I still like the elbow bump.

4 - Wash your hands for twenty seconds...of course.

Here is that catchy viral song from Vietnam about washing your hands. The lyrics are in the second video, but the first one is full of cute Vietnamese youth doing the viral dance they have created for the song


Here is the original advertisement.



5 - Don't Panic-Buy Face Masks!

Please leave those for healthcare workers or people who are actually sick.

6 - Don't Touch Your Face!

This is an obvious one, but most people do not pay attention to this. It is an unconscious thing.

I was staring out at an audience a couple of mornings ago and was pretty amazed by how often the teachers touched their faces. The kids? Well, little kid's hands are a disgusting mess. I try not to think about their hands. It makes me queasy.


7 - Sanitize!

When you get home, wipe down your steering wheel, gear shift, and your door handles.

Of course, I have OCD and I'm a germaphobe, so do what you think is best, but I'm pretty sure it won't hurt anything!

8 - Please Listen To Credible Sources!!!

Knowing how to get good information is also important. If you read something that scares you half to death, instead of going ape, read some more sources and see what they have to say.

The CDC is usually a pretty good guide.

The World Health Organization is a good guide.

Your state department of Health and Human Services is also a good place to check. (This is the link to the one in NC)


If Billy Bob-not a doctor or epidemiologist or Karen-not a doctor or medical professional of any kind starts telling you to encase your house in cellophane or something equally foolish, please do not go out and buy all of the cellophane...I'm looking at you toilet paper hoarders...or panic.

A time might come to panic, but even then, getting good information will help make it a productive panic.

9 - TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!!!

Make sure you are getting enough sleep!
Make sure you are eating well!
Make sure you are exercising if that is your thing!
Make sure you are drinking enough water!
Make sure you are as healthy as you can be right now.



So, if you are an itinerant performer, these are some things you might want to consider.

If you have other suggestions, please leave them in the comments.

Have a safe and healthy March!

Self-Care and the Traveling Storyteller: Touring Like a Beast!

Yes, I do have a broomstick

I have had a lovely, slow couple of months. I slept late, went to the gym on a regular basis, had lovely home-cooked meals, and spent time writing, playing with my pets, and reading to The Mister.


February through May is just around the corner. I'm about to put some serious mileage on the broomstick.


I'll be in multiple states doing multiple venues - sometimes two or three in a day- until the school year comes to a close.


Touring can be like this sometimes. Self-care becomes a huge problem when you are going six days a week or more. Here is my checklist for getting ready to tour like a beast.



1. I keep a travel bag at the ready - If you don't have one of these and you tour regularly, I highly recommend it. It is just one less thing to think about.

The Travel Bag

2. Sleep - This is a great article by Kevin Kulp about the importance of making sure you get enough sleep and why.

3. Maintaining Your Voice - Your voice is an important, finite resource. Make sure you are doing your best to keep it healthy!

4. Maintaining Your Car! - If you don't have the skills or confidence to do this yourself...I don't, then make sure you get your car into a local shop or to your mechanic or to a dealership and have your chariot tuned and tightened.

Happy Car

5. Maintain your Stress Level - Even if you don't feel like you are stressed, if you have been touring, telling, driving, dealing with trains, planes, and automobiles, meeting tons of people, expending tons of energy, then you need to make sure you are stopping to smell the proverbial roses. Make time!

6. Snacks - I keep some snacks in the car to prevent from getting the munchies and buying things that are going to cause me headaches. I have a snack stash of nuts - usually pistachios, chocolate - I get interesting, fair trade chocolate bars and break them into snackable chunks. (If I don't break the candy bars up and separate them, I will just eat the whole thing.) I snack on orange segments, dried fruit, some kind of jerky, and chewing gum. I tend to bake myself some kind of lovely, gluten-free cookie.

7. Water - Make sure you are staying hydrated! Dehydration will cause all sorts of problems that will make you think you are ill! Drink enough water!

Bibliophiles Do It With Books

8. Books - I am an unabashed bibliophile. A personal preference, of course, but I always travel with at
least one long series and three stand-alone books. If I ever look to be in danger of reading them all, I can always swing by an independent bookstore!

I am sure you have other things you like to do. If you have ideas or suggestions, please share them. We do better when we support each other and reinforce best practices!

Happy Touring!

When Murphy Strikes: The Aftermath

source

This has not been a stellar week in the world of storytelling for me. I find myself wondering how children taste if you have the right recipe.

I also wonder about the administrators at some of these schools.

In the last two days, I've been hit by all of the things that make me question whether or not I am the best person to be in schools.

I have no patience.
I am annoyed when administration treats art experiences like a babysitting service.
I am disgusted when teachers spend time surfing the net on their phones during the set and then get upset with their kids when they don't pay attention.
I am annoyed when they leave two special teachers in the room and everyone else leaves, thus encouraging the handful of really defiant kids all over the room to show their worst behavior without there being anybody there who really knows the best way to deal with them.
I hate having to enforce discipline from the stage because nobody is doing it and the kids around the disruptor are having trouble paying attention.
I really hate having to call out a kid who has Pokemon cards or a phone.
I hate seeing the preschoolers file into a show for 3 - 5th graders because they are going to sit and stare at me without a clue in the world about what is happening.

As I said, it has been a rough couple of days.

When things like this happen to me while I'm performing, I stop having fun. The only thing that saves the shows at this point is all of the training I've had over the years. I can get through a story and the kids enjoy it, but they are not getting the best of me, and my attitude by the end is hanging on by the skin of my proverbial teeth.

What happens when Murphy comes to visit me?


My usual fall back position after I leave a show where my body is in a knot because of the circumstances is to decide I was the biggest problem. Somehow, if I had just done SOMETHING different, that would have saved the whole thing. Placing it in my court makes me feel like there is something I can do to deal with the situation better the next time it happens and I start strategizing.

Despite my utter disgust at myself for not giving what I felt was the best possible experience to this school, the kids left saying...

You should be a comedian!
You are really funny!
I loved those stories!

When I'm this disappointed in the overall show, it is hard for me to hear those things. I am too annoyed at myself at not having done a better job at...SOMETHING.

source

First, I reach into my glove box and get a small piece of emergency chocolate. You can put what you want in your glovebox, I try to keep something decadent in there that I wouldn't normally eat. I take a small piece. This prevents me from pulling into the next drive-thru I see and ordering a shake or some other thing I will instantly regret the second I've swilled it down.

Next, I call The David. 

I yell, complain, and generally pout out loud as I drive. He listens and talks me down off of whatever ledge I might be standing on at the moment. Then, he talks to me. He uses his "Baby, be calm" voice.

He tells me about his phone calls, meetings, contracts, politics he has seen, whatever thing the cats have been up to, and any news of our college-aged children he has been saving. He will even tell me dad jokes. 


Whenever I am no longer homicidal, we get off the phone. I put on a playlist and drive home.









When I get here,  I curate my little library.














I get on facebook and waste some time.



I play a couple of games.










I make myself some lovely tea.



















This time of year I make a nice fire....even if it is sixty degrees outside.











And, if it is non-fiction Thursday, which it is, I have to try to write a blog post about something.




So, tomorrow I have another show. No matter how it goes, tomorrow is Friday, so there is that.

Oh, and for those of my friends who are worried that I am cracking, I had amazing shows last weekend and a practically sold out show at the Carolina Theatre last weekend.

It isn't that I am fighting some huge uphill battle and debating the merits of my career.

No, I'm just having a few days when every audience I've seen makes me think I'm doing something wrong.

I think that it is important for artists to have these moments because they remind us that we are on a journey, not at a destination. We are not bulletproof, and we are often defined by the last audience we see!

So, tea, fire, and pampering tonight. Tomorrow? Kindergarten and first grade audiences...at least, that's what they booked. Who knows what it will be when I get there.

Murphy is with me this week. He's a pain, but he doesn't ever stay long.

Enjoy the journey...even the potholes. All of them teach us something.

Happy Telling -

Don't Let Ridiculous Speed Overwhelm You

Bullet Trains move at ridiculous speed!

As a touring artist, most of my life moves at ridiculous speed when I am awake.

Ridiculous speed is something many people can relate to.

Got a manuscript to my agent on Wednesday. Hooray! A moment to breathe....not so fast.





Hadn't really cleaned the house for a week while I wrestled with prose. Got that done...mostly. Started packing for the weekend festival. Made necessary arrangements for a couple of other gigs coming up, thought about what I might like to write on next...Agent emailed me a manuscript and asked me if I wanted to edit it. So, the next writing project started almost immediately.

Yesterday morning I got up at 6:30am, had a quick breakfast, took a quick shower, drove an hour to a school, set up my sound system, did two shows, took the system down, drove an hour home, grabbed lunch on the way, packed the rest of my stuff, sent out an artist survey for the school I'd just visited, filed my mileage, made an appointment for my daughter at a spa for her birthday, waited in a forever long line at Costco to fill up my car, drove to Chapel Hill to pick up my husband after he dropped a car off for my daughter, then drove to Jonesborough, TN for the National Storytelling Festival.

Once we got here to TN, we had to go to the opening night banquet to get packets and hug lots of people. After the meeting where we got the low down on how the festival was going to work, The Mister and I walked back to the hotel, stopping about six times to talk to people. It took us an hour to get three blocks. Got back to the room, ended up talking to Sheila Arnold and Darci Tucker until eleven, went over my emcee duty work until midnight...sleep.

Up this morning at 6:45am to breakfast with The Mister, went over the packet for emcee duties, got my introductions laid out for today...I'll worry about the ones for tomorrow later tonight, ironed my outfit, and faced the fact that I hadn't blogged in almost a month.

Artists are the things they live, and right now I am in transition.

I won't stop being a storyteller.
I won't stop blogging.
I'm doing lots of fiction writing.

You wake up one morning and they are gone!

My touring season is ridiculous this year.

By the same token...

My kids are no longer at home.
My parents are aging and needing more care.
My husband and I are starting to work out the empty nest rest of our lives.
I'm trying to decide where I see myself in ten years.

Noticing the transition you are in when you hit it is helpful.

It can help you make decisions in a way that focuses your future. It can also help you decide what you want to keep and what you want to leave behind.

Your brain and body know more about you than the rushing life you lead. If you are exhausted, stress ill, sleepless, discontented, terrified, or worried and you don't stop and address the pell-mell, headlong rush that is ridiculous speed, it will catch up with you and force you to stop.

I learned this the hard way many years ago!


Make sure you stop ridiculous speed every now and then and breathe.
Make sure you stop ridiculous speed every now and then and reflect.
Make sure you stop ridiculous speed every now and then and choose.
Make sure you stop ridiculous speed every now and then and consider what you are actually doing as opposed to what you want to be doing.

Some of us will not be free of ridiculous speed until we decide to switch to a lower gear.
That doesn't mean you can't take a quick break.
Ridiculous speed does not stop on its own.
You have to stop it.

Happy Telling!