We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Carla Navarro. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Carla below.
Carla, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
I keep my creativity alive by surrounding myself with art and storytelling and allowing myself to be curious. As a child, my parents exposed me and my siblings to different types of art forms. We often visited museums, listened to music, watched independent movies, saw theatre and dance shows; we told stories by the fireplace. My little brother and I took the family camera and made movies. We were allowed to play and were encouraged to share our experiences.
As an actress and playwright, I find that being curious is imperative to storytelling. Whether I am portraying a character or writing one, I am always wondering what this person’s experience is in the scene, the play, and the play’s universe. My imagination has to be active and flexible to be able to come up with the character’s truth and authenticity. And I find that surrounding myself with other art types facilitates understanding these characters and how they behave and navigate their world. When I witness and experience art, whether it’s music, theatre, dance, painting, poetry, or other, I am opening up my heart, body, and brain to experience something that I would not otherwise be able to experience in my day-to-day life. Sometimes that feeling just stays, other times I process and analyze it. Either way, it goes into this box of tools that I can later use for developing a character, writing a play, or creating something else.
I was born in Connecticut to Chilean parents who moved me and my brothers back to Chile when I was 9 years old. I lived in Chile for 17 years and decided to move back to the US when I was 26; lived in San Diego until I was 34, and then moved to Rosarito, Mexico where I now live a cross-border life. Being in constant movement and setting roots deep enough to acclimate but not assimilate has offered me exposure to other lifestyles, cultures, and structures, which has kept me flexible and open to different experiences that I use to fuel my creativity. I am in constant search of exploring and taking on new challenges to discover more things about myself and how any of that can be translated into my creative life.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
For over 15 years, I have been involved in the theatre community in San Diego, mainly as an actress, and most recently as a playwright. I have worked and collaborated with several theatres and I have been very active with the Latinx groups in San Diego. I take a great interest in intimate theatre and I love plays that are irreverent, and uncomfortable, that move me and make me think. And if they are new plays, or rarely produced, even better!
Being a bi-national woman who feels like an immigrant in both countries in which I am a citizen is a unique struggle. I find myself trying to discern my “identity” and trying to be intentional about representing who I am as a whole and finding others who can relate. I think most of my plays have the quality of seeking one’s true self through the decisions we make and the relationships we keep.
I am drawn to unconventional, raw, and honest art that offers an authentic view to different worlds that I’d otherwise never know. I believe that art, and theatre specifically, offer a unique perspective into someone else’s story and allow us to be more empathetic. I appreciate plays where I can feel identified, understood, seen, and feel that I am not alone, but what really moves and inspires me is the awesomeness of being exposed to narratives that I will never experience first-hand, but can understand from a human point of view and become more compassionate in this world that needs it so much.
And that’s what I want to write about. I’d love to offer a window into someone else’s private life and hope the audience uses it to gain a new empathetic perspective on how other people choose to live their lives, make decisions, and fight for what they love in different and/or similar ways than you or I do. All the while, understanding what those experiences are without victimizing, glorifying, or otherwise simplifying, misrepresenting or stereotyping.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Be compassionate and empathetic, trust yourself (you are worthy), and be flexible.
All of these are easier said than done, and I for one, am always balancing these skills.
Being compassionate and empathetic immediately opens up your heart to see things, people, situations, and even yourself with no judgments. That’s how we can truly understand and honor our craft, and the people around us. I find that when I am free of judgments and conventions, I have easier access to understanding and experiencing new thoughts and feelings that keep my creative brain alive. And I also just find that practicing these things makes our hearts lighter and more open to receiving and giving without fuss.
Trust yourself. You are worthy. This is a big one for me. We are surrounded by many people, and everyone has an opinion that may or may not contribute to our work, goals, and ideals. That can be confusing at times. Not everything needs to be shared, not every well-intentioned, well-thought, well-founded opinion will work for us. And not everyone has our best interest in mind. You are the master of your craft. You are the pilot of your life. You are the creator of your work. You choose who you invite into your world or what projects to work on. And trusting yourself will help you be at peace with the choices you make. You are allowed to say no, and you are allowed to say yes.
Be flexible. Life is unpredictable and short. No matter how much you plan, research, anticipate, and prepare, life has so many more variables we just can’t control. And that’s fine. Trust yourself! Staying flexible and trusting that you have the resources to improvise will make the journey a lot smoother. It’s important to keep our goals in mind and our expectations in check, and I find that being flexible with what I can’t control allows me to find new and creative ways to solve problems and learn more about myself on the way.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
It is very important to me, as a playwright and as an actress, to collaborate with theatre groups, actors, directors, creators, and playwrights. I am noticing that the theatre scene in San Diego is cultivating more and more new works, and I am here for it! I love being in the room when new work is being developed. Whether it’s as a playwright, actor, or invited listener, I am looking to expand the development of new works and uplift unique theatre experiences.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.carla-navarro.com
- Facebook: carlanavarro99
Image Credits
Daren Scott Karli Cadel Meg McLaughlin
