Ah yes, small town politics and posturing, always a joy. I think your first project after this project is completed is to compile a play with all of your character sketches and present it at the new facility.
February 6, 2013 at 2:09 PM
Anonymous said...
"why on earth get involved if you're not passionate about the project itself?"
To add it to your resume. You are wise to not trust these people. Been where you are, learned my lessons. Best of luck.
Like a small town, many organizations function much like this. Learning to read the players is truly the only way to achieve your goals be they personal or public. Sometimes I think certain people bait you in groups like this. It is intentional, you become a source of entertainment for their personal agendas. They want you to feel like an outsider, an interloper, a intruder. That is when you smile (Cheshire-like) and proceed. Don't give up, this sounds like a wonderful project.
Bullying, that's what it spells out to me and as usual it makes me wonder why people, and these people in particular, feel a need to bully. Fear of losing control...gawd forbid creativity gets out of hand and goes off in all sorts of anarchic and weird directions, right? These people are involved because they're afraid what those passionate about the project will get up to if they're not there to make sure it doesn's get out of hand. Common problem that...
@lisa - yes, a play's the thing - perhaps a farce.
@ally - i think i'm disturbed at how many people recognize this scenario (and not only because i'd like to think i'm totally unique. :-)) - what is it about human nature that makes this happen?
@celkalee - husband also offered the cheshire smile advice. i'm going to TRY to take it. :-)
@bill - that's because we're all passive-aggressive on FB.
@S'ink - it is bullying. and i've said that to them - "lige ud" as the danes would say. they backpedal and throw the culture crap at me when i say that. because they have no proper arguments.
@michelle - it is REMARKABLY like the rowling book - which i was thinking the whole way through as i read it!
@marilyn - i should probably whip out the iPhone and video her the next time she goes on a tirade. i did get out my notebook and start scribbling down what she had said, right there, in front of her.
You know that's really odd. The same exact thing happened within our local Art League. Really. The same exact thing in a nutshell. What is it about the arts in a community platform that bring out such weirdness in people? I don't understand it. Egos? Fear? I think it's great your building such a place in your community. I wish we'd managed to sort out all our issues here and get something like that.
February 7, 2013 at 11:28 PM
[Image]
trying to fit in another's frame doesn't work for me
last evening, the schoolmarm character in the farce that has filled my recent weeks, righteously gave me a lecture about trust and how i needed to trust in systems and processes and the people around me (this isn't the first time this happened). she offered no supporting evidence, save tradition, that trust was warranted and i have numerous examples where i can see that trust has neither been earned nor deserved.
what's odd is that a small group within the small group that has been elected to this task is very closed and insular. they want to keep the project to themselves. they don't want to hear the wishes of the community. and it's very odd, because several of those who are the most closed are not users of the current facilities - the troglodyte actually goes so far as to disparage the activities that are happening there today. apparently not realizing that it will be the same sort of activities - concerts, lectures, film evenings, like-minded arty folks who paint together, theatre - that will happen in the new (or renovated) facilities.
is it any wonder i don't trust the motivations of these people? why on earth get involved if you're not passionate about the project itself? i will continue to question and yes, think for myself, and yes, hold onto my suspicions until i can see that everyone involved wants the best for the project. because that's definitely not clear right now. there are issues of alliances and power (as laughable as that sounds in this small town context) involved that are not easy to see through.
i don't need to be popular, i just need for people to treat differing opinions with respect, rather than bullying. there must be room for all of us. and once that room is made, then trust might follow. but until then, i don't trust them any farther than i can throw them.
9 Comments
Close this window Jump to comment formAh yes, small town politics and posturing, always a joy. I think your first project after this project is completed is to compile a play with all of your character sketches and present it at the new facility.
February 6, 2013 at 2:09 PM
"why on earth get involved if you're not passionate about the project itself?"
To add it to your resume. You are wise to not trust these people. Been where you are, learned my lessons. Best of luck.
February 6, 2013 at 3:05 PM
Like a small town, many organizations function much like this. Learning to read the players is truly the only way to achieve your goals be they personal or public. Sometimes I think certain people bait you in groups like this. It is intentional, you become a source of entertainment for their personal agendas. They want you to feel like an outsider, an interloper, a intruder. That is when you smile (Cheshire-like) and proceed. Don't give up, this sounds like a wonderful project.
February 6, 2013 at 4:04 PM
There was a little ditty which occasionally surfaces on Facebook:
"I used to wonder what it'd be like to read other people's minds. Then I got a Facebook account, and now I'm over it."
February 6, 2013 at 5:18 PM
Bullying, that's what it spells out to me and as usual it makes me wonder why people, and these people in particular, feel a need to bully. Fear of losing control...gawd forbid creativity gets out of hand and goes off in all sorts of anarchic and weird directions, right? These people are involved because they're afraid what those passionate about the project will get up to if they're not there to make sure it doesn's get out of hand. Common problem that...
February 7, 2013 at 12:20 AM
Doesn't this remind you of a certain book you and I just read (among many other people, of course) by JK Rowling??? yikes. good luck. stay strong.
February 7, 2013 at 4:40 AM
Love the photo - and the idea of you lecturing to yourself. Did you get a video of it?
February 7, 2013 at 5:53 AM
@lisa - yes, a play's the thing - perhaps a farce.
@ally - i think i'm disturbed at how many people recognize this scenario (and not only because i'd like to think i'm totally unique. :-)) - what is it about human nature that makes this happen?
@celkalee - husband also offered the cheshire smile advice. i'm going to TRY to take it. :-)
@bill - that's because we're all passive-aggressive on FB.
@S'ink - it is bullying. and i've said that to them - "lige ud" as the danes would say. they backpedal and throw the culture crap at me when i say that. because they have no proper arguments.
@michelle - it is REMARKABLY like the rowling book - which i was thinking the whole way through as i read it!
@marilyn - i should probably whip out the iPhone and video her the next time she goes on a tirade. i did get out my notebook and start scribbling down what she had said, right there, in front of her.
February 7, 2013 at 8:01 AM
You know that's really odd. The same exact thing happened within our local Art League. Really. The same exact thing in a nutshell. What is it about the arts in a community platform that bring out such weirdness in people? I don't understand it. Egos? Fear? I think it's great your building such a place in your community. I wish we'd managed to sort out all our issues here and get something like that.
February 7, 2013 at 11:28 PM