TOSCA...AS IN MAGAZINE

Theatre, Opera, Shakespeare, Culture, Art

Someone asked me the other day why folks would bother with Exploring TOSCA magazine when it's so convenient to just open the lap top/iPhone/iPad etc. and do a search for what's happening in the Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth areas. I've been trying to come up with a quick answer as to why I love this periodical (other than the fact that I'm in the current issue). And wouldn't you know it? The old Eastern philosopher was right (whoever he was) when he said, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear."

So here it is, straight from the website: "...the newspaper's Entertainment sections... skip many things. Now we can find out all about listings in one place rather than Googling each entry to see what it's about." And in the words of TOSCA editor Gail Weber: "Exploring TOSCA is the most comprehensive arts guide available in the Twin Cities. It is published quarterly and describes hundreds of arts events and opportunities for readers. It lists events by category and by weekend. It lists the many free and almost free arts events in the Twin Cities and the Duluth area. It also features the work of local artists."

My two cents: Just try doing all that on your laptop while you soak in the tub!

Go to tctosca.com for an on-line sample, then seriously consider a subscription. And no, this is not a paid advertisement--just an endorsement of something I believe in.

A RARE COPY OF ANOTHER'S COLUMN (reprinted with permission)

"Serenity"
by Judy Westergard
pastel on paper
customizable giclees available through
FineArtAmerica.com

"Is your life a spinning top?

Do you find yourself overwhelmed with information?
Are there just too many choices and options?"

These are the words that opened a column by Cinda Columb in the Winter '10 issue of "Expressing TOSCA" magazine (page 58; reprinted with permission). Her questions grabbed me like Velcro® grabs a wool scarf. If like me, you relate to this particular challenge, you might be interested in what Columb has to say:
"I feel snowed under when I open my email inbox and find over 800 unopened messages. You see, I'm a big of an information junkie; I sign up for way too many newsletters thinking, 'This will give me the secret to increased sales, solve problem A, or whatever the pitch may be.' When life starts to feel like a spinning top, my goal is to keep it as upright as possible, all the while spinning without toppling over. Does that sound like your goal as well? I love to help people find ways to simplify their life so that decision-making becomes easier and choices become clearer. There are two quick and simple exercises I recommend to my clients to achieve this. The first step...is discovering what you are good at, those things you do naturally and effortlessly. One easy way to recognize yours is by buying the book, StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath. The purchase of this book offers an online assessment, which after completing tells you your top five talent themes. A question I ask my clients is, 'What are your core values?' The following link offers a values card sort exercise that offers a number of value words or phrases for you to distinguish the five core values that guide your life: http://oca.cce.umn.edu/prototypes/cardsort/values. When I completed this exercise, I recognized a theme that is part of the motivating fulcrum that keeps my top spinning smoothly. Remember at the beginning I mentioned signing up for too many online offerings? Well, one of my values is pursuing new truths and understandings. Ah ha, that makes sense. My other values revolve around working with and helping others. I enjoy being in a position to help others recognize self-limiting attitudes and to make changes that increase the quality of their lives. When I incorporate these values into business, volunteer opportunities and life in general, I am happier. These values validate the education and career choices I have made that bring me to this time in life: I coach individuals and teams in the business of life in order to live successfully ever after! How are your values and choices aligning?"

Cinda Columb, MA, is the owner of the coaching business
“Successfully Ever After.” Cinda has a Master of Arts and her
coaching certification from Adler Graduate School. She works
with individuals and teams who want to maximize their strengths
to increase harmony and productivity. She facilitates inter-active
workshops and is a motivating speaker. Cinda can be reached at
763-449-0127 or cindacolumb@comcast.net.

SOME THOUGHTS ON SENSATIONAL WOMEN

Detail from
"The Goddesses"
oil on canvas
by Judy Westergard

I grew up in the post-WWII era. If the concepts that grew into NOW and Title 9 were on anyone’s planning board, no one in my neighborhood’s culture knew it. I got the implied message from my mother that my life's goals should be safety and security. Options like elementary teacher, nurse, or (Mom's particular exemplar of the ideal job for a woman) telephone operator, were dangled in front of me. The message was that security meant marriage and motherhood not career.
Today I stand in awe of my biologist daughter and other women her age. She counts scientists and surgeons among her friends. But it’s when I meet women my age and older who worked past those 1950’s and ’60’s expectations that I realize just how far we’ve come.
A year or so ago I wrote about the women I work out with, most of whom are 70+ and whom I call The Goddesses. This time I’d to tell about Gail Weber, editor of TOSCA magazine.
I met Gail a few months ago when she contacted me about the possibility of including my art book “Past Matters” in her magazine. Over the next few weeks, our email correspondence convinced me that this was a woman I wanted to meet. Her writing brought to mind adjectives like dynamic and smart. My journalism teacher genes jumped at the chance to be active again. I wanted to interview this woman!
I got the chance to do just that when we finally met at a Barnes and Noble coffee shop. When she told me she was originally an English literature major, I asked her about her journey from English lit to magazine editing. And there it was...the attribute that I’d sensed in her in her emails, the attribute that set Gail apart from the “be safe” mentality I grew up with. She and I are close in age. Where did this come from?
“I practiced law for 23 years, she said. “The 80s and 90s were very intense and I worked 70+ hours a week. Always wore a conservative suit. In court a lot. During this time I was also learning more and more about the arts and that was a side interest. I was the one in our group of friends that arranged most of our arts related outings.
“In the mid 2000s I started to burn out. I was getting ill a lot and fatigued. I was no longer interested in practicing law and (I was) out of energy.
“In 2005 I started TOSCA*. I closed my law practice in 2006. I’ve met a brand new group of people that I would never have met had I continued in law. It has been enlightening, fun and fulfilling. It’s still a challenge but I have the desire to meet the challenges and bring more arts to people.”
I can't begin to know all of the reasons why one woman sets out on a road less traveled while another takes a safer, less daunting path, but I do know this: I thank the Powers That Be for these women who give the rest of us the courage to keep on tryin’.

*Twin Cities Theatre Opera Shakespeare Culture Art
subscriptions available by contacting Gail M. Weber
Gail M. Weber
Twin Cities TOSCA TM
Theatre Opera Shakespeare Culture Art
The Twin Cities' most comprehensive arts guide
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