When Is A Second Chance Right For You?

July 31st, 2023 | By Maya Malan-Gonzalez

For a company that was known for over 20 years solely as Teatro Luna, and has been working on a re-branding over the last couple years as Studio Luna- we are no strangers to SECOND CHANCES….. And sometimes third chances and maybe fourth chances and well, who’s keeping count anyway?!?

Second chances are important in so many ways, for ourselves, for others, and for everything in between– so when it came up as a theme for Talking While Fckd Live: The Storytelling Sessions, it just felt like a perfect fit. 

The funny thing is, Second Chances was originally meant to be sooner in the year. But when a storyteller got covid for our second episode: Skies Beyond Skies, we decided to push back the event rather than go forth without them or by replacing them. We considered cutting Second chances all together…. But that just didn’t feel right- so we shifted the whole schedule back and gave Second Chances a second chance as we slipped it into August. 

This August 31st will be our last TWF: Storytelling session of the summer. Episode 4 of Season 5 will have paletas for folks to keep cool and a super dooper line-up featuring Sara Guerrero, Marissa Herrera, Daphne Sicre, ensemble member Maya Malan-Gonzalez!

This theme of Second chances resonates with us as we reflect on the journey our ensemble has gone on as it’s changed and evolved over the last 23 years (if you want a deep dive into the evolution of luna- check out the history page). Life has a funny, sometimes cruel way of pushing you into needing a second chance. Sometimes it may be a miscommunication with another person- a relationship is broken and after some time you have the opportunity to start over with said individual. Sometimes we start over in a multitude of ways. It felt like we were getting a second chance when we left our space 2009 E 1st street in 2021 and moved a couple doors down to 2003 E 1st street…. Then when we had a break in in 2022, where everything we had was stolen, even our old and not so great working speakers, again it felt like we were starting over and getting another chance. We cried, we pulled up our resilient chonies and continued forward- a small but mighty leadership team, keeping sight of our goals despite feeling like we kept getting knocked down. 

And here we are today getting ready for our fourth episode of our 5th season of Talking While Fckd- oh yeah, even the title of our Live Storytelling sessions needed a second chance as it was formerly known as Talking While Female, which was not in alignment with our values and how we understand what it is to be a woman. 

So we all need a second chance at times, and we also need to remember that sometimes we just need another chance; and that same fact goes for others, which is why one of our values at Luna is grace: an unyielding expansion of our compassion- for others, for ourselves, and any moment we are in. 

How many chances is too many? Sometime we want a second chance with the wrong person or at the wrong time. And sometimes we are offered a second chance and we need to sharpen our discernment as to whether that second chance is the leap of faith we needed, or if it’s really a distraction.

What do you think? Have you taken a second chance when you shouldn’t have- have you sometimes needed more than a second chance? Let us know in the comments.