Janice Valdez

I hear a cello and a piano being played either next door or in the apartment below. I like it. I’m in the midst of writing a solo show based on my immigrant experience and it’s a lonely process and quiet. Hearing the people practice their instruments feels like I’m not alone as an artist.

The courage to create art, in any medium, is the courage to be alone. An artist must be alone to be intimate with one’s Self to be authentic in giving voice to one’s stories authentically. Authenticity and presence of Spirit in art is rare, but when it’s there, it’s magical and speaks universal truths about humanity.

What I am beginning to learn in a deep way, is that my own personal truth of my experiences is connected to others by our humanity. Fear, anger, joy, sadness, these are all universal human experiences of emotion and no matter what the context, we can relate to each other when we see them demonstrated. But there is so often confusion, for how I demonstrate and communicate an emotion does not control how others will interpret what I say or show, and so we do not always understand nor do we feel understood, even when we think we are.

Bridging this gap of understanding is where I find my purpose and work. When we engage in creative expression through the arts, we abstract our emotions, thoughts and experiences into symbols, metaphors, stories, sounds, gestures - a multitude of layers and options for pathways into understanding the creator’s point of view. On some level, when we create something of our own design, we know this and it can trigger fears around being public about the parts of ourselves we have not yet come to appreciate or acknowledge. What I think is so great to acknowledge is that hiding something, or the avoidance of sharing who we are authentically, does not change the fact that we are who we are.

If I write a story, and it has a bunch of spelling errors in it, I can choose to share the story for it’s worth, or I can fear the judgement of the spelling errors and withhold the story completely. One option takes the risk of exposure to criticism but creates the opportunity for growth, and one does not risk exposure but guarantees failure. Neither of these choices changes the quality of the creation, but choosing to be public and get feedback creates opportunity to improve.

It’s hardwork looking at one’s ‘less than ideal’ choices, but only if we attach a meaning about it to our self worth. That’ s where the courage to create really is the courage to live life to the fullest. That’s why I believe in creative practice and commit much of my time to make space for them in the world.  It’s about evolving our humanity, starting with one’s Self.

Janice Performing Arts

I’m so honoured to work with people and their creative processes, which in turn translates into personal and professional growth.  Below is a quote from a current student:

“Janice challenges you to express the hidden you… she taps into the creative energy you already have and frees you to build your own personal playground.  She’s just so open and patient and works hard to make you comfortable in expressing yourself. It’s just such a pleasure to work with Janice, and I look forward to our sessions.”

Janice Uncategorized

Lately, I’m in a process of examining very closely why I believe the things I believe.  I have been more focussed on dismantling my inconsistent beliefs about myself and the world now, more than ever. I think it’s fun and extremely fascinating and as I grow, I recognize that it’s also a responsibility. Whether we acknowledge self-development as valuable is separate from whether or not we do it, and then it is a seperate matter all together if we are to apply what we learn to better ways of being and behaving.  We are powerful entities as human beings and how we be is what we create and manifest in the world.

So I’ve extended my thoughts to the questions around marriage and children. Why do we do have this ritual called a wedding and why do we maintain a contract for a committment with someone in a personal relationship? Joe asked me a question worth considering last night, “Do you sign a contract to commit to a relationship with anyone else you love, ie friends, family?” I couldn’t say that I did. I signed a roommate agreement with people I shared a house with once, and that was to make our terms of satisfaction for living together clear and concrete.  Should that apply to someone you live with if you are having sex with that person?  Maybe even more so!

In an age where women want “equality” and each individual strives for independence, why do we still maintain a structure for life partnership that is taken from a history based in a business transaction between men? What historically has been an exchange of property, man bids for and buys woman, is no longer necessary or relevant to the modern woman who has access to education and is capable of living in the world without a male provider.  So now that we can recognize that it is a choice to be bought, rather than being sold, does that make it okay and a good way to move forward?  How does choice of partner make it any more enlightened as a practice?  Money is still exchanged, and usually if it’s male-female, the male makes more money and the woman brings other non-monetary value to the union like… the womb.  So isn’t that a sort of exchange, whether it’s conscious, written or spoken?

My question back to the person who doubts the importance or validity of marriage is, “If you are making the commitment anyway with someone, what does the formal contract take away from that?” The way our society is set up, there are more benefits (mainly financial) to being a married couple than single or living with the ‘common law’ status.  What specifically is the problem with making the committment public? I can think of more benefits than obvious drawbacks: the support and acknowledgement of community for the commitment that two people are making to each other helps to strengthen the couple and also the community around them; ritual is a very powerful expression of who we are and a marriage ritual is an expression of who two people choose to be with each other in moving forward to build a life together.

And there is the question of children…to have them or not to have them. I think the fear of having them really comes down to the fear of losing the quality of life that one has without being responsible for a child. And I do think that this issue looks appealing and unappealing in different ways for men and women, but whatever the reason not to have them, why do we continue to have them? We don’t need anymore humans on our already over-populated, suffering planet. In fact, the very purpose of having offspring for any species is to keep the species alive, right? What becomes the purpose of procreation when the rate of it becomes a threat to the very livelihood of those things that sustain the species; namely, the planet and all its living species upon which we depend for food and shelter?

The only thing, at this time, that I can think of a good reason to bring a child into this world for, is if it comes with the unwavering commitment to raise the child to his or her fullest potential with values and understandings about humanity that would lead to a generation of people with incredible ingenuity, compassion and commitment to make forward progress for the global community.

And I don’t only see it as a one way street when it comes to bringing a child into this world. I do believe that spiritually we choose to come into physical form, also choosing through whom.  And when I think of it that way, it’s a tremendous honour to be a woman with the capacity to be a channel for another Being to take form.

I’m not sure if marriage and having children will be part of my experience in this life.  I haven’t yet concluded that it would be my highest contribution to the world and I really am just having fun doing all the things I get to explore without them. However, I suspect that there isn’t anything more miraculous than experiencing humanity through these endeavours of giving and receiving love.

Janice Uncategorized