Blog

Making Compassion Cookies

Making Compassion Cookies

I’m sitting in the blackbox of Studio C. The light from the large corner window is rapidly fading, and one of my classmates is reaching the end of their Pedagogies assessment, a 20-minute class taught to our own cohort. I’m bone-tired. Weary. I’ve got that tingly...

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Chopping Potatoes & Self-Compassion

Chopping Potatoes & Self-Compassion

I’m making dinner. I don’t normally like cooking because it stresses me out. So many options - what spices go with what? What tastes good with what? I have no idea. I let my partner do the cooking. But we’ve got a student discount on HelloFresh so for the last few...

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Does Actor Training Amplify Perfectionism?

I think that my actor training trained me to be a Perfectionist. Well, I think my actor training amplified my Shame. And I think that amplification birthed a shining Perfectionist. Gear up, there’s gonna be a lot of Brené Brown references in here. ~~~~~~ I’m sitting...

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R.I.P. Caitlin The Perfect Grad Student

R.I.P. Caitlin The Perfect Grad Student

The morning after my second panic attack — during which I could not mindfully breathe through the emotions, but needed to step out as the wave took me over and resulted in me crying in front of the course leader — I was lighter than air. I woke up early. I wrote “You...

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My Best Self & Her Blanket Fort

My Best Self & Her Blanket Fort

“I also love Blanket Forts because they create a physical boundary for my self-care time, because no one wants to fuck with the adult woman hanging out in a fort. Thank you.” Light applause, and then… “You have more time,” comes the voice from the back of the room....

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How to Be The Perfect Student

How to Be The Perfect Student

It’s the second day of classes at The Royal Central School of Speech & Drama. I’m in graduate school. I’m a candidate for the MFA in Actor Training & Coaching. In London. England. My husband and cat are waiting for me at home, the sun is out, my classmates are...

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A Bit About Me

Caitlin, a young white woman with dark brown hair, wears a blue shirt and is seated at a wood table. She is smiling and rolling dice onto the table.

Hi, I’m Caitlin, pronouns she/her and they/them. I’m a teacher and an artist, gathering wisdom on how we can build nourishing, sustainable creative lives in the midst of a white supremecist capitalist patriarchy.

I’m a white, queer, American theatre educator and practitioner, as well as the co-founder and Artistic Managing Director of Enso Theatre Ensemble based out of Portland, Oregon. I’ve taught, directed, and performed with a variety of companies in the U.S., including the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Ashland New Plays Festival, Third Rail Mentorship Company, and Enso Theatre Ensemble.

I'm back in the U.S. after completing my MFA in Actor Training and Coaching at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. While there, I researched socio-cultural contributors to student burnout in actor training, focusing on scarcity mindset and the Human Giver Syndrome framework, as articulated by Kate Manne and Emily and Amelia Nagoski. I argued for the integration of a 'love ethic' in higher education actor training as one possible response to the pervasiveness of student burnout. I also taught devising and resiliency skills to B.A. acting students as part of a class called 'Performing the Self' at Rose Bruford College.

My work intentionally straddles the boundary between creativity as an art form, and creativity as a therapeutic practice. Supporting my ability to traverse this boundary with care and responsibility is my 10+ year mindfulness practice. This includes years of self-study, as well as a 6-month yoga teacher training at Yoga Refuge, and the Mindfulness for Youth-Serving Professionals course with Peace in Schools. I also hold a certificate in Mental Health First Aid.

Outside the theatre, I'm an avid lover of table-top role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, tea drinking, ritual, and history, and enjoy long walks through the forests of the Pacific Northwest.

CONTACT

caitlinlushington@gmail.com

I work and live on the unceded lands of the Clackamas people, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla people, known by its colonial name of Portland, OR.

© 2022 Caitlin Lushington

Rest & Love in Creative Living

Let's chat! In this email "newsletter," I respond to your questions on finding sustainability and creative fulfillment in our wild and challenging industry. I'll also send along stories, musings, and other bits of inspiration. Submit your questions to caitlinlushington@gmail.com.