Are you a nexus?
/And what does that have to do with scenius?
At the end of the Zoom call I had last week with students in Gary Gute’s course (The Creative Experience), I was asked how important was it for a community to have creative people who form a scenius in their midst.
Of course I answered that any community/town/city can only benefit from a concentration of creative people. It may not be as spectacular as having the Cubists or Fauvists spring up in your neighborhood, but the energy produced by artists supporting each other will only be to your community’s benefit.
What, then, is a nexus, and why is it important? The modern definition of nexus is more or less a hub, a center, of a network. (The older definition was that of the network itself.) For our purposes today, a nexus is that person who becomes the central node in the scenius network, the person who seems to attract others to the network and is able to keep the network humming, so to speak. It’s tempting to say, well, that’s just leadership, isn’t it, but there’s more to it than that. I hate to use the word charisma, but that’s probably the simplest way to define it.
For most of my life, that person has been me: the theatre company, the Lichtenbergian Society, my burn theme camp 3 Old Men — these groups coalesced because I wanted to do a thing and I needed others to help me do it. That sounds more egotistical than I’m usually willing to admit to, but it’s true. My only disclaimer is that I don’t necessarily do it on purpose; it just happens.
Can you become a nexus? I think so. Let’s see if I can give you some pro tips:
Rule No. 1: Be nice. That was our number one rule at the theatre. Drama queens and stress puppies didn’t really fit in, which is not to say that we didn’t have those people from time to time. Be kind, open, welcoming. That shy guy who just happened to stumble across your scenius may be your next star.
Give permission. Don’t be a control freak. Your job is to create a bubble within which your peers can create, and if you’re good at it, then that creativity may take directions that you didn’t see coming or wouldn’t have initiated yourself.
As an example, 3 Old Men started as a basic idea for a ritual experience, and now, thanks to our openness — we joke that we’re the “refugee camp” — we have a constellation of fun people who have brought (and continue to bring) wonderful new projects and ideas to the camp.
When I was in charge of the theatre, anyone could come to me and pitch a show. (We had Mainstage shows, which were the ones that made up the season, and Second Season shows, which were smaller, ad hoc projects.) If we had the space/time and money, I made it a policy to say yes. We got quite a few original scripts and bold experimental performances that way.
Be the host. This is a leadership thing: you may have to be the one who schedules meetings, finds a location, hosts the get-together. For years, as artistic director for the Newnan Community Theatre Company, I handled the calendar, the box office, the newsletter, everything. Again, when others start to take initiative — let them.
Start with a seed. It may be that you have a specific project in mind and you need a team to get it done. That’s one way to pull together a scenius. Or maybe you already have a small group — a project might be a way to energize them and spark that flame. (I am looking at a major, major project that I hope is about to come my way, and I’m already plotting whom to ensnare in it.)
That’s a good start; if I think of other pro tips, I’ll blog about them later. You might want to check out Bandersnatch: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the creative collaboration of the Inklings, by Diana Pavlac Glyer. At the end, she devotes an entire chapter to forming and maintaining a scenius. Well worth the time and money to read if you're serious about becoming a nexus.
