We recently connected with Jesse Bliss and have shared our conversation below.
Jesse , we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
There is a burning passion in me for life and work. That is what keeps me resilient plus the practice of endurance and keeping my circumstances in perspective.
My mother left my father when I was 6 months old. She had 3 husbands. They all did her dirt, but 2 of them were violent, including my father. Life was unpredictable and tumultuous from the get. I used the resilience I was born equipped with all day, every day. As an artist, that has come to benefit me.
One quality an artist must have is tenacity. The women we work with at the prison and my work in that field as a journalist/radio host, give me the constant gift of perspective. Those held in incarceration, and their loved ones, suffer. I am not an abolitionist. Prison has its’ place, however this is a dangerously flawed system that profits off people, causing enormous, unnecessary punishment and pain.
The genocide of the Palestinian people occurring right now is an immeasurable atrocity and a crime against humanity. There are no words to describe the level of resilience needed to endure. The Palestinian people are infinitely strong and powerful. Innocent lives are being taken every day in mass. There needs to be a CEASE FIRE NOW! We are all one and no group of people should ever be under attack in this way. My heart and prayers are with Palestine all day, every day.
Currently, I am going through a challenging time. I’m in it, not through it yet so their is still much insight to gain. I have been dealing with long Covid where the symptoms persist. For me it’s been dibilitating exhaustion, dizziness, body pain, and nausea. Each day is different and some days are better than others. I am also working to make sure it’s not something else that has been triggered.
I am having realizations every day about the way I live my life and spend my energy. It’s been a time of calling back my spirit and taking all the energy I give out and bringing it back to me. I am a single mother and a working artist. I have been going, going, going around the clock for years. I was getting up at 4 AM most days, working out, praying, meditating, cultivating my art as a producer, director, writer, public speaker, and performer, teaching in school and prison, doing the THINK OUTSIDE THE CAGE KPFK 90.7 FM Pacifica Radio show, taking care of my daughter and going out.
Although I was doing what I could to care for myself with a healthy vegetarian diet, lots of exercise, and a spiritual practice: the pace caught up with me. Shit, single motherhood alone is enough to take anyone out. The demands are unreasonable. The expectations are so high. We are not meant to raise children this way. My work brought me to Los Angeles 19 years ago. My family is in Northern California.
There are also high expectations around being an artist. There is a constant pressure. I am changing that for myself. I’m thinking about cycles and how a farmer plants seeds and then must stand back to allow them to grow. No amount of yelling at the seeds, or pushing on them, will expedite the process. Art has cycles. My theatre company, The Roots and Wings Project, has its’ own cycles. We had to take time to recalibrate the company after several years straight in production, including straight through the pandemic.
I personally need time as an artist to allow a vision to come clear before bringing it to light on the page. Right now, we are at a new beginning with the work and company. I am preparing (visioning and setting up logistics) to write THE JOY RIDE into a full length script for our coming World Premiere. I am being taught lessons about conserving my energy, resting more and doing things differently, more effectively. Basically, respecting the cycle of creation and my own needs is top priority. Healing is the only goal.
Because I am very tenacious and resilient, I tend to push way too hard. I’ve made a habit of pushing and it’s a serious downside to being resilient if it’s not kept in check. I have a whole lot of energy and I take advantage of myself and go, go, go. I get it from my mother. This is a costly lesson I have been taught over again. Sometimes I get terribly sick with something hard core—this started happening in my 20’s… or another time I was in a horrible car wreck. It’s this theme of the universe saying to me “slow down”. I keep pushing so hard. There needs to be a balance. I am learning to stop and rest. Life is forcing me to do so—–again. That comes with recognizing I am still a good mother if I am unable to do much and I am still an impactful artist if I can’t go out and see the shows or keep up a rigorous writing schedule at the moment while I am healing.
The most important thing right now is to keep faith and hope I will pull all the way through this. I am remembering times I got through really hard situations. That’s actually the concept of my theatre company The Roots and Wings Project—going back to claim your past, the good, the bad and the ugly, to understand the truth of the present and move forward into the future with clarity.
Logistically, I have been doing acupuncture and taking massive herbs and supplements. It’s very slowly working and I am incredibly grateful.
I am thankful to all the people in my life who have shown me great kindness, love and care through this mess. My business partner for The Roots and Wings Project, Gabriela Lopez de Dennis, has been very patient, understanding and supportive. I have gorgeous, powerful women friends that live with chronic illness and never let it win. Their strength, and the support of loved ones, has carried me through. The women I work with in the prison sent me notes of encouragement that helped me to hang on. I see a clear vision for who I want to be and the work I want to do in this world. That gives me energy to stay patient and motivated to heal. I am mother. I need to be well for my girl. I’ve learned no matter how sick I am, my gifts stay with me and that is awe-inspiring. Nothing can take our spirit and talents. Even at our worst times, the light is there.
I’ll approach life differently coming out of this. I will be mindful how I am using my energy and conserve where I can. I will be honest with myself about what I want and need to be doing vs. what I think I should be doing. I will ask for help, delegate and trust more.
This experience shook me all the way to the ground. I am definitely being born to a new me and a fresh chapter of my life and work. My weakness will become my strength because I went on a great journey to get the skill to move through this and come out the other side new.
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?
The Roots and Wings Project is a politically charged, socially transformative theatre company with a mission to provide stage and space for voices on the unnamed, unknown and misunderstood.
Our shows focus on the pursuit of justice for women.
Our writers and administrators are BIPOC women.
We specialize in new work, site-specific locations, and integrating the voices of those who have been incarcerated.
We offer a writing program to women being held in prison and also to historically underserved teenagers.
We also offer writing workshops to professional writers and help develop new works from incubation, to staged readings to full production.
Our shows are incredibly innovative. Though written by women, we collaborate with incredible men who are allies in the effort to create a just and equitable world.
We are a multidisciplinary company, integrating music, dance and theatre though it’s not performance art. There is a through line, sound story structure and traditional beginning, middle and end with all our productions.
Our work is raw, gritty, innovative and filled with piercing messages. A Roots and Wings Project show will stir your soul, make you laugh, get your head bobbing, and uplift you.
Our shows capture Los Angeles, the fight for equity, and the reality of being a woman in a patriarchal world in a graceful way, incorporating humor and soul.
This is an exciting time for The Roots and Wings Project as we embark on a brand new chapter. We were in production for 5 straight years including right through the pandemic. We decided it was important to take time to recalibrate and put love into the function and structure of the company. It really paid off. Now, we are preparing to launch more programming than ever before—new shows and an expansion of art education programs.
Our World Premiere of THE JOY RIDE, a show out of a vintage convertible, is coming up and so is the return, and new version of our DTLA Theatrical Tour LUMINOUS STREETS.
An alumni of our writing program in the women’s prison, the phenomenal Evelyn Velador, is now going to be coming in as a facilitator. She has so much to bring to the writers, having survived that same environment. Same with our long time powerhouse resident writer, Sigrid Gilmer. We are thrilled to have them going inside to bring magic, freedom and creativity.
We’re very grateful to Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture and Community Partners, California Arts Council, TahDah Foundation, Poets and Writers for believing in our work. We’ve been active over 20 years and it’s electric to be a part of this evolution and see the company continue to evolve and shine. Our work is gritty and raw and I was afraid to lose that in our expansion, but it’s the essence of what we do so it will always be who we are.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three most impactful qualities are tenacity, training, and discipline.
It’s critical to stay the course and keep getting back up when you get knocked down or when you feel nobody is believing in or supporting you. It’s also so important to not let the haters get you down. Being tenacious is critical for an artist. No matter how low you may feel, keep going and don’t stop. Know that the work is your purpose and nothing can keep you from it. You are a vessel for something greater. Take good care of yourself along the way. Put inspiration and reminders around your space. Live life both inside and outside your passion and surround yourself with loving and supportive people.
My training gave me confidence. My acting teacher, Linda Lowry, was trained by Bobby Lewis, Founder of the Actor’s Studio and he was trained by Stanislavski himself. She was hard on me and pushed my limits in a good way. She also saw the writer in me. I was disappointed in roles for women. I’d always written, but under her guidance, I started taking to the pen in a serious way. I was an apprentice at an Equity theatre house. That kicked my ass and prepared me for life as a working artist in New York City. I learned to produce from watching my then boyfriend orchestrate giant, underground hip-hop shows that required enormous planning and implementation. I didn’t realize how much that impacted my lens for what theatre can be and how it taught me how to produce demanding shows that integrate multiple elements. I also trained as a writer and it was when I worked with the great Leon Martell, my whole world opened up. Learning tools and skills is critical. It gives you a bag of tricks to use always and a foundation that can never be taken. That gives confidence because at the end of the day, you are equipped with what it takes to do the job well and nobody can mess with that.
Discipline has also been enormously instrumental in my path. I realize it’s not about working when we *feel* like it, but about showing up even when we don’t so the muse knows where to find us. Set goals and work backwards on how to achieve them. Break down a schedule every day that involves what it takes to achieve a bigger picture, knowing if you stick to that, you will reach your desired result. For example, I will write the amount of pages I need to write per day, per week to achieve a full length script, allowing some days off. 5 pages a day adds up really fast over time and before you know it, there you are with a finished script. The hardest part is making yourself sit down in that chair and do the work. I don’t allow internet access, except to research, I stretch and clean a lot while writing, and I also record thoughts that come to me throughout the day and. night so that I do not forget them once I am back at the computer.
It’s tricky though because in that process, I do push too hard, so finding balance is important. If you’re energy becomes low, make adjustments. Listen to your body. Be reasonable with yourself. Have compassion. Walk away when you need to. Remain disciplined, but be sure to also honor what your body, mind and spirit are telling you.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
The number one challenge I face right now, outside of long Covid and the need to heal, is time. I feel I am always struggling to find time. Time is the most precious commodity. Money comes and goes. If you lose it, it can be made back. Time is not that way. Once it’s gone, there is no way to get it back. This is why it must be spent wisely. Life is very short. The way we spend the moments of our lives is our relevance, our gold, our legacy.
Spending time with my daughter is non-negotiable time. Self-care is non-negotiable. Handling the every day business of taking care of the home ie. grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry, my daughter’s lessons takes enormous amounts of time. Plus, the demands of being a professional artist and educator on top of that and wanting to engage in the work of the community and spend quality time with friends and family when possible makes it challenging to create the proper amount of space. It gets really tight with time.
What I am doing to resolve this difficulty is putting more focus and attention on my daughter, writing and theatre company, and less focus on time for money exchanges. I need to shake my time loose so that I can breathe better and enjoy the moments of life instead of always running full speed, stressing out for time. I want to have room in my days and nights to breathe, to pace myself and to move intentionally instead of always at full speed. This change is a process so I am being patient and taking it one step at a time.
In the United States, fast, frenetic pace is what single mothers, artists, and many people in general are forced into. We’re are pushed into hustling non-stop. I want to find another way to be, to do things. I give a lot so I need time to take in, to be nourished and nurtured. I need a pace that doesn’t have me constantly non-stop. Artists need space to chill, to ponder, to take in the breeze and sweet smells in the air.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.therootsandwingsproject.com
- Instagram: _theraw_project
- Facebook: Facebook.com/TheRootsandWingsProject
- Youtube: @TheRootsNWings
Image Credits
Photos of Jesse Bliss by Angela Torres Posters by Gabriela Lopez de Dennis
