INTERNAL PROCESSES - BY CRAIG JOSEPH

Here at Seat of the Pants, we think about, experiment with, talk through, and play with process ALL THE TIME. It's sort of our raison d'etre as a company: how do we create a process that not only puts on a great show, but also develops individuals to become better artists, collaborators, and human beings? As a former teacher, pastor, and counselor, it's THIS that keeps me up at night and gets me out of bed in the morning - more than how to stage a scene, how to coach an actor, how to use design elements expressionistically. All of that intrigues and interests me, of course, but theatre is really just the context for a much grander ambition that involves growing and transforming people to be the best versions of themselves.

Beyond our rehearsal rooms and production meetings, a good deal of process is also going on behind the scenes this year at Seat of the Pants, as we begin to transition from a structure in which I've been the sole executive leader to a new season in which there will be multiple leaders to move the organization forward when I finally decide to go live in an animal sanctuary in Utah, grow my beard out, and commune with nature. I'm constantly asking myself questions like: "How do I find the best fit for this person's giftings - a job in which they'll thrive and find joy, but which will also stretch and grow them?" "When is it important that I speak up and insist that something be done a certain way, because I have the benefit of wisdom and experience, and when do I sit back, let someone figure something out for themselves, and recognize that there may be a different (and better) solution than my own?" "How much responsibility and ownership to I give someone? How do I know if and when they're ready?" And on and on and on.

With all of this emphasis on developing others, 51-year-old me is learning something that 30-year-old me didn't understand. Namely, if I want to be a good leader and steward of others, I absolutely must be in the process of growing and developing myself. To be clear, I am NOT a perfect saint, sage, or guru, but I've been pretty aggressive with myself the past 25 years - pursuing therapy, meditation, spiritual rediction, addiction recovery work, and more - and I think I'm finally starting to understand how to be in process with myself, so that I can be the best creative I can be, while also mentoring and developing others. Lately, I've distilled WHAT I NEED to do this into what I call THE 5 BIG S WORDS, and I've spent 2026 trying to instill more of them into my life. Much to my surprise and delight, I'm finding some success with them and noticing the concrete results, so I offer them here in case they might be useful to you.

SILENCE: The world is so noisy. There are a lot of words coming at me and also coming out of my mouth. Internally, also, I'm sometimes "noisy," with lots of thoughts and feelings and impulses roiling around in my body. So I actively try to cultivate silence, so that I can stop being overwhelmed and pay attention to what's going on with my motivations and desires. Though I get up at about 7:30 every morning, I try not to talk until 9 or 10. On road trips, I turn off my phone and the radio. What I'm finding in the silence actually speaks volumes.

STILLNESS: Relatedly, I keep a crazy schedule and being a peripatetic whirlwind never serves me well for too long. So I'm actively trying to leave margin and empty spaces in my day to just sit and be still. This also means making more time and space for sleep. Or just to sit on the couch or lay on the floor to do nothing but rest and recuperate. This is actually a challenge because I'm even an overachiever in my leisure: "Today, I'm going to read two books, watch a movie, listen to 3 new albums, etc." Settle down, Craig.

SPACE: By this, I mean not only space in my schedule - margin for error or leaving bandwidth for things to go wrong. But also space for when I just don't feel like doing something. Giving myself grace to take a nap instead of write my blog post. Giving myself an extra hour hanging out with a good friend rather than rushing home to accomplish more. And I also am talking about natural space; sometimes, I need to just get outside and notice the different rhythms that exist and arise in me when I'm being present in outdoors.

SOLITUDE: I'm an extrovert who happens to be A) good at talking to people and B) in a lot of occupations and situations that ask me to be "on" and fully present 24/7. This is all fun and joy-evoking, but truthfully, y'all wear me out. So I'm learning to just take time for solitude, trusting that I can be ALONE without being LONELY. Knowing that if I replenish by myself, I'll eventually be of better service to those I care about around me.

SIMPLICITY: When I make things too complex, life gets out of whack. I don't need days in which every single minute is scheduled. I don't need to have imaginary fights in my head with someone who has offended me, when it would be easy to sit down and have a face-to-face conversation. I don't need to look for clever or novel solutions to problems, when there's already a good fix in place. I don't need to have lots of expensive things and experiences that keep me worrying about money. Truthfully, there are only 2-3 things in life that I really care about. The rest is just complexity. Focus on the essentials.

What do you think? Does any of this resonate for you? If so, drop me a line at craig@seatofthepants.org.