Did I tell you I have a mentee? Let's start back: there's a new agency called CSARN - Canadian Senior Artists' Resources Network. After an initial study followed by a series of workshop/seminars, and funded by I'm not sure whom but I'll find out, CSARN has launched its first practical effort to bring seniors back into the fold with a mentorship program. I am one of the mentors in the inaugural flight, actually being PAID, to guide, teach and encourage a younger wannabe writer at the beginning or near the beginning of his/her career. We have only just begun and it's challenging for both of us. You know that line from Rogers and Hammerstein's The King and I?
"If you become a teacher, by your pupils you'll be taught. "
Well, it's true. In the course of preparing for my mentee, I am reminding myself of lessons long since learned, and perhaps half forgotten, that bear repeating. Best of all, of course, is that passion is returning. There's a line in the diary of Florida Scott Maxwell, kept during her 82nd and 83rd years, wherein she chides herself for her passion: "I am too frail," she writes,"for moral fervour." But it's not true.
Never too frail. Never too old. God grant me my marbles.
From the Net:
CSARN is proud to announce that its mentorship program is now up and running under the co-direction of Joysanne Sidimus and Deborah Windsor. Through this new program, seeded financially by Janis Nielson and additionally supported by the Trillium Foundation, Lynda Hamilton, Joan and Jerry Lozinski and other private donors, many distinguished artists from a variety of disciplines are lending their knowledge and wisdom to a new generation of Canadian performing and creative artists, We are deeply grateful to all our funders for the ability to provide this unique opportunity. More than 145 mentor and mentee applications were reviewed and inaugural matches have now been made in the disciplines of dance, music, theatre, visual art and writing. All mentorships officially began on March 1, 2014.
"Our program underlines the value of a lifetime of professional artistic practice and experience. It provides a wonderful opportunity for emerging artists to draw on a rich treasury of knowledge," said Elise Orenstein (CSARN Chair) in announcing the first ever CSARN mentorships.