Comments on: The danger of a hashtag

By: MK

MK — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 13:56:28 +0000

Thanks for that, Rob. In the post I thought you missed the point, so I appreciate the clarification. In fact, one of the common practices when you’re trying to find your purpose (the key building block of the whole thing) is to write your own elegy. The idea is to find your inner light is so you can be of service to the world in a healthy way. So in that respect we’re using “legacy” the same way.

Your post did serve a purpose in having me examine my reaction to the word “hippie”. In fact, I do fit a lot of the definition: I believe in free & honest love, living as naturally as possible, equality – and I firmly believe I can change the world. I do hate tie dye and bell bottoms, and I bathe on a daily basis though. 🙂

It seems it’s like the word “feminist” (a title I do claim) – a descriptor that has come to have some negative connotations so it is shied away from. Food for thought. Thanks for that.

By: Rob Kempson

Rob Kempson — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 13:02:47 +0000

MK–I’m sorry to have offended with my comments above. I didn’t mean to make fun of these organizations for their work, nor the people connected to them. I was trying to draw the link between the work that they do, and what we would consider a “legacy”. Just as I found sports and nationalism to be surprisingly present in the hashtag search, I was similarly surprised that self-help organizations were tagging their posts in that way. The subject heading of “hippies” is a result of my own cynicism–and that I should probably curb more often.

But please don’t condemn the work on stage on account of my blog ramblings. Every word in #legacy is written by the performers–my role is as a curator, director, and arranger of their work. I think you’d be surprised how much of it might speak to you, and how little of my cynicism seeps through.

By: MK

MK — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 10:15:49 +0000

Wow, my whole personal drive, and the worldview of so many people I know outside the arts, reduced to being sneered at and derided as “Hippie”. Thanks for letting me know in advance that your show won’t have anything to speak to me.

By: Melissa D'Agostino

Melissa D'Agostino — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 20:23:49 +0000

I love this post! I find it hard not to be judgemental around the idea of #Legacy and high school cheerleading competitions (I know…I’m horrible), but I think that points to an interesting idea around how we view arts vs. sports. I get judgemental because I think: ‘Seriously? Your High School Cheerleading competition is your legacy?” And that’s me diminishing that experience. But in a way, by holding up that experience as a part of one’s legacy you are saying that it is worth something. Worth a lot. And people in Sports (and in the United States of America) do this often.

The post made me consider how often I downgrade the importance of my experiences in the arts. Perhaps it’s the Canadian in me trying not to be boastful. Or maybe it’s the self-doubting artist in me trying to downplay the importance/value of my shows so I’m not devastated when nobody comes or likes them, or Glenn Sumi walks out of them or whatever. Even posting this comment is making me queasy. Perhaps I’m worried to say something too bold and have it online forever. And ever. Amen.

But I want to thank-you for choosing a show name that led you down this particular spiral. It makes me think a lot about my own legacy as an artist, a human being, a spectator/audience member, as well as my own #legacy online.

It also makes me grateful that there are no pictures on the internet of me as a cheerleader in Grade 9. That is not a #legacy I wish to lay claim to.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 14:45:22 +0000

Great, Rob. I am pleased that all those jocks are able and willing to write even in such a short space. Oops did that sound sarcastic? No, just the English teacher coming out. I still don’t understand #. Donna