Noble, humble beginnings

Well, here I am, writing our first blog for TRUE Initiative!! It was just a couple months ago when an idea I’d been brewing for months, and in some fashion, years, boiled over and revealed its name to me. I spent the summer putting together a self-discovery journal writing class for teen girls called True Stories. It was the class I always wanted to take in school. But of course, it was waiting on me to create it. I meticulously combed through the details of the course and created a fascinating (no, I’m not biased) curriculum that any school department head would have been fond of. At summer’s end, I shopped my class concept out to a local nonprofit arts center here in Charleston. The director was pleased as punch, though it was hard to tell from her nearly expressionless demeanor. The main indication was that she said that she hadn’t seen a class proposal so well thought out in a long time, and hired me on the spot. She didn’t know how the course would take at their center, as they aren’t known for writing, and the self-discovery aspect would be a marketing experiment. But she said we’d give it a try. All we needed was 5 students to make the course a go. I was supremely confident, though experienced enough in my years to know it could flop. After all, the economy was/is a mess, and this center is largely tuition driven. But I was sure that once parents received the Fall schedule in the mail, they’d be intrigued by the new offering. A light bulb would ping. They’d call their moody, literary daughter into the room and say, “I’ve found the class you’ve always wanted, where you can say anything you want and write your heart out, and I’ll be relieved to know that you’re getting it all out.” In my mind, I saw the girl’s eyes light up for a split second, because when you’re that age, it can be brief: Finally, a class all about ME!

Well, it didn’t turn out that way. As the weeks leading up to class turned into days, there were no sign-ups. We pushed the date back two weeks so that I could get the word out at local libraries and on public bulletin boards, and still nothing. I thanked the art director for her support and left the door open for us to revisit the possibilities some time down the road. I didn’t shed any tears over it or even entertain much disappointment, because I knew I was onto something with the course. But I couldn’t help but think about the warning from my spoken-word-poet friend, Marcus Amaker, “Yeah, it’s one thing to have a class, but it’s another thing to get enrollment.” At the time, I thought the comment was a little bit of a snub, but I now trust that the mention came kindly from personal experience. (He’s become quite successful with his published work and poetry workshops around town.) I still don’t know all the reasons why the first attempt failed, but I trust that everything has its reason(s). So I picked up and partied on.

Shortly after the cancellation, I refocused my efforts, determined to pitch the course to all the middle and high schools in the area, as well as centers catering to girls and young women. I made a visit to my friend, Angel, in her temporary dwelling quarters in a boyfriend’s dreamy, historic Charleston home South of Broad. We sat alone on the living room sofa and talked about our life plans. She’s a yoga instructor who has dreamed of starting a wellness program for kids, same but different from my own vision. She mentioned that we collaborate, that wherever I’m able to offer arts courses, that I keep her in mind should they need a yoga class. Of course I would.

That night in the shower, no doubt the location of at least 75% of our inspiration, it hit me like an arrow. There are no area programs, specifically girl’s programs, where arts and wellness are taught together as a package for self-discovery. And aren’t these the two programs to get cut first in schools?! I knew there was a great deal of research and measurable evidence that shows that these programs positively impact both the academic and life performance of young people, and that without them, children suffer from lack of expression, inspiration, balance and good health. I also thought of all the parents who are making more informed choices in their lives these days. They’re shopping smarter at natural grocery stores, attending yoga and tai chi classes, going to meditations and spiritual/holistic seminars, and pursuing their passions into older age. Even those who aren’t, are at least  becoming more aware of or open to the benefits. More parents mustbe interested in programs that will offer their children early tools for living more conscious lives, with more self-awareness, self-discipline and respect, and creative life skills. It occurred to me that care of the mind, body and spirit can be taught to a younger generation through the practices of  creative arts and wellness!

I understood that True Stories was part of a much bigger vision called TRUE Initiative. It has always been my hope to help people, especially young women, discover who they are on deeper levels than is the norm or is expected. I believe that self-awareness is power. But the journey of self-awareness is different for each person. When thinking of this in terms of the word true, the question that came to mind over and over was What is true for you?. This is what I hope to help girls discover within themselves. It’s an individualized answer that will evolve and change as new experiences are brought to the table in time. But learning to have that deeper dialogue is the most useful tool for a girl navigating her teen years on the often rough road into womanhood. She will draw on that skill her entire life.

With the naming of this program, the question has double meaning now. “TRUE” in TRUE Initiative stands for what are, to me, core values in connecting with ourselves and the world around us: teaching, reaching, understanding and empowerment. If all of our actions, towards ourselves and others, were motivated by these four principles, imagine how different the world could be! I decided that these would be the outlining principles of every class taught through the Initiative. The question of what is true for you? now becomes what is TRUE (Initiative) for you? In other words, what are you passionate about? Given a sampling of arts and wellness classes, which ones most speak to you? Where do you express yourself the most fully? Children often instinctively know the answers to these type of questions after they’re able to dabble for a bit, if only we would let them sample the possibilities and figure it out on their own.

So, my dream is to have a wide menu of innovative, introspective courses in arts and wellness, from which girls, schools and centers can select from in order to enrich the educational experience of our youth. My heart swells to think of a teen girl joining us in 5th or 6th grade and seeing her off to college years later, a much more conscious, prepared young woman than she would have ever been had she not participated in such a progressive, nurturing program. But we will take whatever time we can get with them.

What we’re up to today is that we’re honing our concept, we’re pitching the idea out there. We’re planning the group meditations that will begin each session withthe girls. We’re talking to arts and wellness teachers who are interested in working with us; adding yoga, tai chi, contemplative dance, collage, and even a found objects art class to our menu. We’re getting valuable advice and feedback from seasoned educators. We’re on facebook now. We’re blogging! We’re building a website, at least in our minds! Hopefully that will get on paper/computer screen this week. We’re reaching out to after-school programs and other non-profits for possible collaboration. We’re learning about non-profit. (I have a feeling the cramming for that will begin shortly.) We’re getting our questions together for our pro-bono lawyer friend. In essence, we’re turning a dream into a reality.

* Oh yeah, in addition to Angel moving to California, realizing quickly after our inspiring conversation that staying in Charleston for her is like shoving a shooting star into a rabbit hole, I knew who I needed to join forces with to make TRUE Initiative all that it is capable of becoming. I called my art director best-friend from childhood, Holly Thorpe, who happens to live down the road, and recruited her. Recruited isn’t the right word, really. Her heart was already wrapped around the general subject of impacting the lives of girls in a meaningful way. She was leaving her job. She was attending life-coaching sessions to manifest her purpose, to identify the work she’s meant to do. The timing was right. Most importantly, she also had a vision for TRUE Initiative and was called (in her own heart) to join me in the cause. I have always known that her partnership on any project would be an invaluable balance and asset, but it is amazing to have her by my side as we attempt to make a dent in the lives of girls and women. I believe in our leadership as much as I believe in our friendship. We don’t know how big this may become, but we do know that we have a starting place to work from, and we plan to work hard. Together, one foot in front of the other.

What is TRUE for us is that girls only need someone to pay close attention to them, to expand the world in front of their hungry eyes, to show them through creative and physical expression that everything they need to succeed, to find their own versions of joy and peace, is already inside of them. Teach. Reach. Understand. Empower. That is what we intend to do!

Stay TRUE,

Kendall Lukas, Founder

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