The Bigger Picture: The Weight & The Show

I’ve spent the morning oscillating between two extremes: the quiet, heavy soul-work of a college classroom and the relentless, polished machinery of a Broadway stage.

If I’m being honest? On the surface, they don’t look like they belong in the same sentence. But in my gut, they’re telling the exact same story.

The Heavy Lifting

Yesterday, I was at Philander Smith University. (A huge shout-out and thanks to Stacy Pendergrast for inviting me to speak to her Education majors.) At any rate, while there we didn’t do the “fluff.” We skipped all of that and immediately went straight to the “real”. We talked about what it actually costs to lead in a system that wasn’t built for you. We got into the grit of:

• The lived reality of equity vs. equality and what justice looks like.
• How to navigate grief while you’re still expected to lead a room.
• The internal armor you need in order to stand tall against the “isms”—the racism, the systemic brick walls, and the target that ends up on your back the moment you decide to be a change agent.

I walked away moved by their vulnerability. These students aren’t just scholars; they are human beings trying to figure out how to keep their hearts intact while doing work that is designed to break them.

It reminds me of that raw tension in Lil Baby’s “The Bigger Picture.” He’s grappling with the weight of a movement while just trying to survive the day-to-day, admitting, “I’m tryna lead ’em right, but it’s like they followin’ me into a pit.”

That’s the “behind-the-scenes” no one talks about. The terrifying realization that while you’re trying to build the future, you’re often just trying to keep your own head above water. Yet, you’re expected to have the answers, even when you’re still mourning the questions.

The Precision of “MJ”

Then, I’m sitting in the audience of MJ the Musical.

Listen, the talent was undeniable! The set, the movement, the “worth-the-hype” precision. But as I watched that cast, I didn’t just see the “magic.” I saw the cost of the craft. I saw the discipline required to show up and give a 10/10 performance every single night, regardless of what’s happening behind the curtain or inside your own body, heart or head.

We’re all living in that gap.

We’re either in the “classroom,” doing the invisible, heavy lifting of trying to fix a broken world (or simply improve our own selves), or we’re on the “stage,” expected to perform with total excellence despite the weight we’re carrying.

The world loves the result. It rarely honors the person.

Whether I’m in a classroom, my 9-5 work space, or an auditorium/theatre, my North Star hasn’t shifted: I want to ensure the system honors the heart and resilience of the people inside it. We can’t keep asking people to “change the world” or “be great” without giving them a place to land.

This is the “Practice”

This “work” of staying grounded (of not losing myself to the weight or the show) is why I quietly started Still Standing: The Practice.

It’s a small, intentional sanctuary for anyone navigating the “heavy lifting” of change. We’re currently in a beta phase, just figuring out how to stay upright when the world feels heavy.

But if you want to be on the list for the official opening, or just want to know more about what we’re building, send me a message. Because the show might go on, but you shouldn’t have to disappear behind the curtain just to keep standing.

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Stacey McAdoo, the 2019 Arkansas Teacher of the Year, brings over twenty years of experience advocating for traditionally underrepresented students and educators. Her relationship-based approach to education is featured in the award-winning Arkansas PBS docuseries Closing the Opportunity Gap and the course Coaching Self Expression: Go-In Poet.

As the founder of the Writeous Poets (a spoken word and youth advocacy collective) and an expert professional development facilitator, Stacey designs sessions centered on arts integration, equity, and empowerment. Currently, she serves as a professor at Reach University and the Executive Director for Teach Plus Arkansas, where she leads a policy fellowship that empowers educators to advocate for systemic change. She is also the host of the A Mile In My Shoes: The Walk & Talk Podcast.