Numbers and Names

July 10

How do you measure success?  During a recent conversation, a friend described a gathering of people from multiple islands.  As they came together to sing, honor each other and engage in various activities, one of the measures of success was full seats.  Each island group had a section of the room to themselves.  During the proceedings they were less concerned about consistency of attendance, so much as their assigned seats were full.  So many of the gathered people would be wondering around outside the building, only entering for the proceedings when their seats seemed less occupied than those of other islands. An interesting measure of success.

In the theatre world, we do have a parallel attitude of ‘butts in seats.’  The measure of success is how many butts have come to see the show.  While I recognize the economic reality of this, and our desire to share the performance with a significant portion of the community.  Yet when I revisit places I have worked before (such as where I am now – the Marshall Islands), the first question that often accompanies meeting a past student or participant is ‘Do you remember my name?’  And there is my measure of success – do I?  Because I know how it feels when a past student calls out to me, even 20 years later, and remember well who I am and what we did together.  So, I feel less than successful when I cannot remember that name.  But I am at the same time thrilled that we can engage in a conversation through which we share memories of our work together, the challenges and joys of a meaning shared experience. I enjoy large communal gatherings where we can, communally, celebrate our shared humanity through performances and other activities, but I find it most rewarding when we a once-upon student or colleague and I can share very human, common experiences.  To honor a fellow human by simply remembering how important they were within your own life’s journey is a true measure of success in my book.