Remembering Diane
Continuing To Metabolize Her Lessons
April 12, 2024 | By Alexandra Meda
Diane Rodriguez At Her Birthday
How are you doing coming out of Eclipse week? Over here, we feel re-birthed and, frankly, exhausted. However, part of starting a new chapter is taking stock of what got you to where you are now. For us, this kind of reflection usually brings us to some memory, some moment, some lesson we inherited collectively from Diane.
We think about Diane Rodriguez almost every day here in the Lunaverse. But especially this week, on the four-year anniversary of her passing, while here in Washington D.C. advocating for the health and thriveability of Non-Profit Theatres with a new bill, The Stage Act. This is a place where she spent much time in service, including her role as an Obama-appointed member of the National Council For The Arts— and so, she is super on our minds, in our hearts, and just very present with us from the other side.
In 2020 and 2021, I wrote privately and almost obsessively about what I learned from Diane. She had been my mentor for over a decade, a cherished guide, and a loving friend, and I was scared to forget even a moment spent with her.
She provided me an artistic bloodline.
I felt so alone without her, and it was too much layered on top of living through the pandemic and trying to keep Luna alive through it, processing the loss of my partner only a few months before her passing, and I just wasn't ready to speak about her or her transition publicly. No words would be enough to express my gratitude for her vitality or her gifts.
This is actually my first time sharing about it in any real way.
Which brings us to the lessons. In 2021 Luna created THE INBETWEENS, a series of video essays on grief and healing featured in A Place Called Home's El Centro Del Sur Latinx Theater Festival. Although I still wasn't ready to share directly yet, I had to take my own advice about the power and necessity of being vulnerable when you most resist it and telling your story as a way to heal. I couldn't even bring myself to record the voiceover, so I asked Elizabeth, a former Luna Ensemble Member, to perform one of my in-process stories for the four-story project called GRIEVE WITH ALL OF YOURSELF.
This moment wasn't just about my grief; our whole community was grieving, and I wanted—probably needed—to share some of these lessons. In that piece, I shared the first 12 lessons that were most present for me in those early days.
However, three years later, my grief has started to transform into something else, something lighter and more loving. I am ready to share 15 more lessons from my time with Diane. They resonate more with me than those in that video essay. I can see the lines of her impact map more clearly. In turn, I can see and celebrate how her impact continues to transform me.
I am sure I will keep writing more about the endless lessons as time passes. As I work on trying to stop the toxic perfectionism that keeps me from sharing things in draft and keeps me from sharing most anything, if I am completely honest. But, for today, I will start by not waiting two more years to share more lessons.
We love you so much, Diane. You are the gift that will always keep giving,
❤️ Alex
THE LESSONS CONTINUE
Invest in your friendships with deep rigor. She wasn’t beloved by so many by accident. She invested deeply.
Know your community, grow your community, and center your community.
Resist the pressure to be palatable. But, always be charming.
Chisme can be a love language. And it should be spoken often.
Don’t be so serious that you forget to enjoy the hard work forged in collaboration.
Don’t be a high art or low art person- be an Art person.
Advocate for people who are works in progress, including yourself. Don’t wait until its perfect to share a project, an idea, or a recommendation.
Check in on your people. Often. A surprise phone call was always her style.
Almost everything can be turned into a celebration, a paranda.
Smile bigger when the haters set their gaze on you. Her smile could melt anyone's mala onda.
Resiliency is not just getting back up; it is doing it without a grudge and unapologetically standing in your light.
Don’t let yourself get stuck for too long. If things feel easy or familiar for too long— its a sign you are sticking stuck. Staying still was not very Diane.
Be a bridge. Bring people together that are far apart – or just cant seem to shake off the grudge.
Overthinking and being strategic are polar opposites. One lacks activating choices, drains your energy unproductively and can drive you (and everyone around you) crazy. The other drives you forward. She taught me that the consequences aren’t as hard if you stay pushing forward.
Make everyone feel like they are your best friend—and not in a fake way. In a way that shows you care about people and their humanity kind of way.