Jobs

I just got hired on a web series. That is fantastic news. I started thinking about having two jobs. I'm teaching this term as well and I'm fortunate that those two things are not in conflict with one another. Then I thought about the pilot I'm rewriting. That's a third job. And a play I'm finishing. That's a fourth job. And the play I have to rewrite for a rewrite for a reading in April. That's a fifth job. And I'm looking for new representation. That's a sixth job. And there might be a couple of other play things going on this year, so those might be a seventh and eighth job.

I have to really think about all of these as jobs. Some of them don't pay. Or not yet. I'm writing scripts to get things produced or for more staffing opportunities. I remember something my grief counselor said to me three years ago, after my Dad died. He said that writing was my job. I was a working writer despite not getting paid for it yet. Because it's what I spent my time doing. I dedicated time and space to writing every day. I'm at the library right now working: my mobile office. Yes, I am getting paid to be on staff on this show. And I'm taking time to enjoy that feeling before the work begins. But I've been working in offices that I've paid for. I've been dedicating time and making sacrifices for my work, for my jobs.

That's the switch that has gone off. These are all jobs that I have. And I have to take them seriously. All of these jobs will eventually lead to money. Some of them already have and that's another boost I've needed. It motivates me to work harder and to keep my butt in the chair. It has made the visualization easier because it makes the vision clearer. And that makes my motivation and my intention stronger. And it brings opportunity with greater velocity. It's momentum.

Now I've got to get to work.

I am grateful for my new staff job.
I am grateful for my teaching.
I am grateful for my new pilot script.
I am grateful that I outlined it so quickly.
I am grateful for the pilot script I wrote before that.
I am grateful for the play I am writing now.
I am grateful for the support of all the writers groups and organizations that have given me a place to present my work.
I am grateful for the support of family and friends.
I am grateful for the actors, director, assistant director, dramaturg and producers who gave me the opportunity to present new work last year.
I am grateful for every page I've written and every page I'm writing and about to write.
I am grateful for the clarity of vision that got me here.

Next Level Stillness

I consider myself a productive person. Everyone in my life would hopefully tell you the same thing about me. I like to have things to do, to fill my time. My history tells me that being busy and productive means that I'm working hard. If I'm just kicking back, letting things kind of happen then I'm not putting the work and energy into my goal. I've done a lot of work over the past few years towards being more still. That has meant just living a quieter life. I started by just being quieter. I start my mornings in as much silence as possible. I meditate. I do all of the things that are supposed to make me calmer. I don't drink coffee any more. I try to regulate my sugar intake to make me less jittery. I'm still loud, that hasn't changed.

I realize that calmness is not the same as stillness. I can still have a fire and be still. I can still have focus and energy and be still. My friend Susan told me a few weeks ago a story about keeping my launch pad clear. That metaphor has really spoken to me. Today I realize how that image of keeping my launch pad clear is related to stillness. Clutter is visual noise. If I keep adding things to a clean launch pad, then my rocket still can't take off.

For me that is Next Level Stillness. De-cluttering my life. I did my cleanse last month and in the process of that physical cleanse came a spiritual one. I got rid of a partner that was cluttering up my launch pad. He didn't know it. I didn't know it. But when he was gone, I had a clearer perspective. I have more time to devote to my work: that will make me more desirable to an employer and to an opportunity. The playwriting class I'm teaching is only seven students this semester. That's all I need. The students who dropped out allowed me to focus more attention on the seven students I do have. It's all de-cluttering.

I have been practicing getting things done as a way of de-cluttering. There are some opportunities on the table and I am clearing my plate so that those opportunities have the chance to land and so I have the chance to take off. So yes, I have given myself this Year of Challenges and I filled the plate up. I also know that if something needs to be put on hold in order for something to land, then that's fine. It's all about flight patterns. Maybe something else needs to circle for a bit so that the opportunity I need can land. I'm only handling one thing at a time.

I have a play reading in April that I need to do a rewrite for. And it feels great to have things in the docket. But if I have to postpone that reading so that a job can so that a job can land, then I'm all for kicking the reading down the road a bit longer. I have a production that I want to happen this year. I need to make room for that as well.

I don't have to do everything at once. If I'm obsessed with teaching, then I'm not making time for other things. My approach to teaching this time around is to do the work I need to do and to place limits on my time and commitment. I used to think that meant I didn't care, that somehow doing five times the work that was being asked of me was somehow noble. In reality, sometimes if I'm done done with that job, then I can't invite another opportunity. I have an opportunity coming up that I intend on making room for. And it's an opportunity that's easily manageable with my teaching schedule without compromising anything. But I can't do that and teaching (two jobs that pay) and finish the play and finish the outline. Something will get compromised. So it's fine that if the thing that gets compromised is the play or the outline. But if I get the play and the outline finished or near completion so that I can finish it and then be ready to start another gig, that's really where I want to be.

That's why I've been working so hard to get these other things off my plate. They are also opportunities that can lead somewhere that I want to take advantage of. I'm working towards paying jobs this year, so the things that can most quickly and directly lead to that are where my focus is right now. I feel so good about the ideas happening around the play and the pilot. I feel good about the skill that I'm building as an idea generator as well, which is the skill I'll need the most in taking on a writing gig. I've got the productivity down. I've got the writing down. And now I have the idea generating down. These are all skills that I'm building on. I'm putting the energy out there that's alerting the Universe that I want these opportunities by preparing for the job that I want.

It's this stillness that I've been building that has allowed me this focus. It starts from giving up caffeine five years ago and it leads directly and incrementally to starting a new job.

I am grateful for the ability to connect the dots.
I am grateful for the stillness and clarity I've been able to bring into my life.
I am grateful for deliberate and conscious thoughts and actions.
I am grateful for my friends who inspire the go-getter in me.
I am grateful for the grace to know what's my business and what is not my business.
I am grateful for the continual practice of decluttering.

The Year of Challenges: February Report

As I've mentioned, I've given myself a year of Challenges to accomplish. Last month, it was rewriting my pilot script. This month it's finishing my new play. It's the end of the first week of February and I've finished Act One.  Admittedly, I only probably had 18 or so pages to write to finish the end of the Act. But on Monday, Feb 1st I didn't even know what the end of Act One would be. I didn't know how close I was to the end of the act. So now I'm ready to start Act Two. I know where I want it to start. I know where I want it to end (I think). So now I need to figure out how we get there.

Here's the new challenge. I worked on both projects this week. Act One of the play is 76 pages. Act Two will probably be another 50-60 pages. That's not a small play. That's a two and a half hour play with intermission. Listen, not every play can be 90 minutes no intermission. I love those plays. I've written one or two plays like that. Four characters, no intermission. But my last couple plays have been long. And this story is actually two plays I'm thinking. So indulgent.

Okay, that's not the challenge I was talking about. I finished Act One this week. I also got notes on my pilot rewrite. I worked on those notes last night. I'm at the place where I'm ready to start Act Two of the play and the new outline for the pilot. I'm thinking that I'm going to have a rewrite of the pilot done at the end of February. That will be my second Challenge of the month. Is this year turning out to be even more productive than I thought?

Not like focusing on one writing project a month isn't ambitious. But last month I rewrote the pilot. I also did my cleanse. I did very minimal work on the play. This month I'm going to finish the play and finish the pilot rewrite. Next month…

Okay, let's not spike expectations just yet. I need to figure out how to prioritize. That's the overall challenge this month. The main challenge has always been to finish the play. Let's finish the play this week! I'm still percolating on the new scenes of the pilot and how to rearrange some plot points. I need time to think on that. But I'm motivated to get it done sooner rather than later. So let's get that nuts and bolts planning shit done this week while I prep to write the pilot in the last two weeks of the month.

Okay, that's a plan.

I am grateful for friendships with writers.
I am grateful for smart, talented actors.
I am grateful for friends who send me job opportunities.
I am grateful for friends who put me up for jobs.
I am grateful for all the spinning I've been doing this week.

The Year of Challenges: January Recap

2016 has been set to be my Year of Challenges. How true that has ended up being.

When I said Year of Challenges, I meant that I would take the format of my Playwriting and TV Pilot Challenges of writing a play or pilot, respectively, in a month and apply it to a different challenge every month.

I ended up having to deal with a break up as well. There's a challenge for you.

So January became a month of new beginnings, of taking care of myself and of proving that a break up wasn't going to define me this month or this year. I needed to set a personal tone for myself for 2016. And that included getting a pilot rewritten.

The official challenge was to "rewrite something you wrote last year." And I did. I wrote 61 pages. A new draft of a drama pilot. That's exciting. I've also focused on clearing the path for things to come into my life this year. I obviously did that by ending my relationship. But I also have done that by getting this pilot off of my docket. I have another script, a play I started last year, to write in February.

I also had two other challenges I accomplished last month, I stayed sober and went vegan for the month. I kept it up even after breaking up two days after I started those challenges. I needed to know for myself that I could take care of myself during rough times instead of doing things that were self-destructive.

This month I'm just going to give myself the Challenge of writing a new play. That seems to be enough, given the subject matter.

I am grateful for challenges.
I am grateful that I got through January.
I am grateful that life keeps moving forward.