We were fortunate to welcome John Morello and his one man show to campus on March 3. John wrote the show “DIRT” and has spent the last several years performing for schools across the country. John plays several different roles, using small costume changes (a hat or a jacket) to seamlessly shift from one character to the next. The individual stories and characters weave together and overlap, asking us to think about our own connectedness and the power those connections can yield. He shares his story to remind us of the importance of compassion and kindness and that we have the opportunity to be the author of our own stories which we can constantly draft, edit, shift, and share because, ultimately, we each hold our own pen.

Part stand up comedy and part storytelling DIRT touched on many of the issues that hit home for all of us and his hope is that each of us in the audience could find at least one storyline or character or moment that might resonate and reminded us of the power of having compassion for others and ourselves and the power and comfort in seeing our own experiences or feelings reflected. We are grateful to John for sharing his story.