Week 3, Day 2 — Phone a Friend

It has been a dull, grey and gloomy day, the type where you want to curl up under a duvet and not have to deal with the world.  Scotland is being battered by the remnants of Hurricane Katia, and I'm still under the weather fighting off this infection.  Feeling a bit demotivated, I found myself picking the easiest task on the list (I promise I'll get down to the tougher stuff soon).  It was time to phone a friend.

This stage of the creative recovery process includes reaching out for support.  Putting a support network in place is critical as I prepare to undertake new risks.  So today I had a long chat with a friend and put the world to rights.  It was a bit shouty at times due to my dodgy ear infection, but we laughed it off and talked through the list of challenges I'm up against trying to get my play on the road.  I feel a lot more positive about things having talked them through. I've been reminded that there's nothing on the list I'm incapable of doing, everything's on schedule so far, and whilst it's frustrating that I'm spending a whole lot more time doing admin and production jobs rather than focussing on writing and creativity, at least things are happening for me and I'm making progress, slowly but surely.  I've already acknowledged that in an ideal world I'd have a producer doing much of this work for me, but right now my reality is I need to make these things work for myself.  If I pull it all off, it will hopefully help establish me as a credible theatre-maker and act as a springboard to further my career.  And I'm probably doing a better job of it than I've been giving myself credit for; I need to focus on the things I've achieved so far rather than dwelling on the ever-growing to-do list or getting stressed at the dozens of emails that people haven't replied to.  They'll get back to me in their own time, and if they don't, I'll keep on chasing.

I may still be weak in body, but I'm ending the day stronger in spirit and mind.

K