James G. Bass

I'm an artist and a stagehand. I've been working backstage, professionally, for more that 20 years. Now I'm emerging from the dark and subdued lights backstage, to the bright lights on stage by starting a business as a public speaker. I have been developing my chops in a vibrant and energetic Toastmasters club. I'm ready. I have two main areas of interest for speaking. The first is simply that live theater magically changes people for the better. I'm the guy backstage, pulling the strings to set the stage for magic to happen. I've been working, watching and participating in this transformative kind of phenomenon for a long time. I have seen my work contribute to the magical experience that fills the audience, the performers, and sometimes the backstage hands, with wonder and delight. I want to tell people about that magic. The second area is the devastating reality of being raised in a dysfunctional family. I have a lifetime of experience in this area and I know I'm not the only one! The fact that I grew up in a dysfunctional home can't be changed. Recovery from a past like mine is possible. A demoralizing past does not have to continue to devastate the present. This understanding did not come easily, and I am still struggling to learn how to live with the residual toxicity. That leftover toxicity is life threatening to me, and many others. We don't have to be oppress and demoralized by our pasts any more. I am increasingly convinced that if I can find joy and happiness in life, anybody can. Anybody! I have work yet to do. I didn't get this far by myself. It's time to repay what I have been given, that's why I want to start speaking publicly. I want to reach-out to those who still suffer. To show them there is hope in a world that appears to care less. In this way my experience of anguish and self-doubt is a magnificent gift to me. Because of this gift, I am compelled to reach out to others so they might find a sense of peace from their regretful childhoods.