March’s Man of the Month is:
John Conway
Here’s a little bit about him:
John‘s Great Great Grandmother Meg immigrated from Ballymena, north, of Belfast, Ireland with the magic of the fairy and the gift of telling stories, which got passed down generation after generation until it came to John’s mother Shelagh and then to him.
He studied his trade with: the Second City Fire Hall, University of Victoria, UCLA Musical Theatre Program and finally graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in California. John’s a veteran of 2 Western Canada Children’s Festival Tours, headlining in Canmore, Saskatoon and the Regina Children’s Festival. He’s also performed at the Vancouver International Airports Grand Opening, 2000 Millennium First Night Victoria; a Make a Wish Foundation’s Corporate Fundraiser, Vancouver Museum, Illuminaries and Whistler Blackcomb Ltd.
John has also performed his Stories in Zutphen and Wagenigen in the Netherlands. Written, directed and performed 2 shows for the Beach Side Theatre in the Dominican Republic and written, produced and directed 5 shows with critical acclaim in Western Canada. He’s performed 88 shows a year for the past 7 years to children, families and schools all across the greater Vancouver area and the Sunshine Coast.
John is a whirlwind of positive, infectious, magical wildness, who makes even the impossible seem possible and has been telling original ancestral “Earth Wilde Stories,” professionally for the past 25 years.
And here’s how he answered my 6 questions about creativity:
What does it mean to you to be creative?
It’s wildness without limits or boundaries, the freedom to dance intimately within the spectrum of many realities and in doing so creating something pure, whole and beautiful. For me it is a joining of body, mind and spirit; the three necessary elements to be able to pull the dream, the world of magic into this realm (the world of day to day living). It is an expression of spirit, manifested in a creation like the Green Man, to be enjoyed and shared with everyone.
What triggers your creativity?
Wide-eyed people who are “Cracker Jack” full of inspiration, drive, passion, joy and laughter…its magic!
What hinders your creativity?
Well, my 92-year-old neighbour Bill (a hobby woodworker/craftsman) has watched me design and create my drift log beds West Coast Beds, where I find huge pieces of driftwood (well logs really) lying on rocky beaches and create these beautiful beds. It takes 9 months and 150 hours of meticulous sanding to transform them into something that feels like velvet to touch. They are big round and beautiful. The grain almost appears as if it could reach out and caress you in your sleep. One day Bill came by to talk (as he often does) and I was in the process of sculpting one of my beds. This day I looked up from my work and found him in a fit of uncontrollable laughter. I turned off my grinder and said,
“What’s up?”
“You,” he said, “I’ve finally figured it out.”
“What?” I was puzzled.
“You have trouble with straight lines.”
I had to laugh, he was right, I have trouble with straight lines, it hinders my creativity.
And there seems to be an inordinate amount of straight lines in our world, don’t you think?
What’s the wildest journey your venturesome spirit has taken you on?
I’ve had many wild spirit journeys from:
being told in a dream (by an ancient native elder) to build a white bird, with mask, wings & all then go to the Hopi Reservation to dance, which I did.
climbing a mountain by myself and fasting for 6 days on a medicine lake
falling in love with my beautiful wife and raising my daughter
and finally to awakening the Green Man…details to follow
The awakening occurred through unexpected synchronistic events: I was seriously thinking of taking a shamanistic journey with the Amanita mushroom (you know the famous red mushroom with all the white dots) but after discussing it with my wife we’d thought the risk would be too high. So I had to let that idea go, or so I thought. Months later I was a receiving Lomi Lomi, a 3 hour deep tissue massage (its origins are from Hawaii) and half way through the Amanita Mushroom came to me in a vision. I was under the impression I had to ingest the highly hallucinogenic mushroom to be visited by her, obviously not. There she was and she was beautiful with straight white hair and a pixie face. Her elf like ears had these long mushroom stems that extended 4 inches with a little mushroom on top of each of them. And on her head she wore that famous red and white Amanita Mushroom cap. We said nothing to each other. All I could do was stare at her in reverence and awe. Wow! It was extraordinary! Then before I could put my thoughts into words of the millions of questions I wanted to ask, the Green Man came up from behind her. We all just watched each other which seemed to go on for hours in the vision but moments passed and I was back in my body receiving the Lomi Lomi massage.
Less than a month later I was at the summer fair at the Waldorf School that my daughter attends. I was brainstorming with the school’s director about doing a storytelling show for the winter fair but was looking for an appropriate character as a vehicle.
“I could do it as Farther Christmas,” I said
“Well…” she was hesitating, “Well I don’t think that would work with our approach.”
“Oh.” I was disappointed; I’d thought that the idea would have been great.
“No…” she continued “…but what about doing the Green Man instead!”
My jaw dropped open, I could not believe she just said what she said and I even had to get her to repeat it several times.
And so the 3 year spirit journey began for creating the Green Man; culminating synchronicity to the creation and then manifestation of an awakening.
Wow! I love it when it all unfolds like this, it’s just amazing!
What does being bold and provocative mean to you?
Creating something profound that it actually pulls the magic of the dream (of spirit) in such a way that people can literally reach out and touch it in this physical world.
What’s next for you?
To really awaken the Green Man Project and create an incredible and exciting livelihood that will support me and my wonderful little family.
To take my spirit mask dancing to the next level: Carve the new mask, finish sewing on the new feathers and dance once again.
To take my drift log beds and create more opportunities for creations.
To take more Breath of Life classes…it seems to be really working.
And here’s something that inspires his creativity:
Each year my daughter is given a verse from her school to help with her life’s journey. This is the verse she received on her 8th birthday.
Rich treasures planted long ago
Within my soul, so dark and deep,
Are wakened from a dreamy sleep.
They stream into the world; they grow.
They bear star-substances of greatest worth,
Through loving deeds of mine, uniting heaven and earth.
It’s a year later and I’m so glad she received it because it is still something that I need to hear. It helps me to believe in the things I intuitively know.
Check out more of John:
Green Man Project website.
The Tale of the Wolf and the Dog…on YouTube.
Plus he’ll be performing in the St Patrick’s Day Parade and telling stories at CelticFest…Celtic Kids Tent from 2:30-3pm.
Thank you for getting 3 hour massages and having trouble with straight lines John!
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