UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Susan Russell, the 2014-15 Penn State Laureate and associate professor of theater, took her "Dignity Tour" to Penn State campuses, high schools and other locations across Pennsylvania during the 2014-15 academic year, discussing "various languages of creativity, and how these languages can bridge communication gaps between diverse cultures and disciplines."
She also maintained a website, dignity.psu.edu, where her students posted videos, images, music and texts intended to inspire people to thrive for their highest personal and collective goals as global citizens. Russell has reflected on her laureate experiences through a series of essays. Her final essay appears below. Previous essays and posts about her travels are archived at http://laureate.psu.edu/Susan_Russell.
Dedicated to my Leadershape Family, Wind, and the Stone House Busters-- Susan Russell
I did something crazy last week. I stood five feet off the ground and fell backwards into the arms of 10 Penn State students. This was not an uncontrolled activity. Everyone involved spent the morning learning how to fall, catch, stand, and trust, and then we had to handle our own fears about falling, catching, standing, and trusting. Fear is a powerful thing. It shuts you down, shuts you up, and shuts you off. Fear makes easy things hard, hard things impossible, and impossible things unimaginable. Ancient wisdom and present life experiences tell you that whatever frightens you controls you, and I had been controlled by a fear of falling for a very long time. In fact, my greatest fear as an actor was of stepping on my costume and falling backwards. I would actually see this backwards fall in my mind while I was standing still on a stage.
I bet you have an image of yourself at your most vulnerable — an image that pops up at challenging moments, one that you have protected yourself from for a very long time. I did something crazy last week and it wasn’t falling backwards into the arms of ten Penn State students — it was choosing not to listen to the voice telling me to be afraid.