A Free Moment

Life has kind of calmed down a bit.

For the moment. I'm sitting at the West Hollywood library - the site of many a writing session alone or with my friends Carrie, Larry, and Andrea at various times. I'm sitting here on my new MacBook Pro. I just got back from lunch with my friend, Dan - someone I've known for years and have wanted to catch up with for some time.

I actually have a moment to catch my breath. Since January 3rd, I've been working. And that has been an excellent thing. Our show is currently in production and they don't need me as much. I feel like I've been neglecting my students. My friends all tell me that they probably don't feel that way. But I'm used to being there to answer their emails at all hours or coming in early to meet with them. I've had to limit my office hours to the designated times and I've been putting off grading their assignments until later in the week. It hasn't been as easy to be the teacher I want to be for them.

But that's because I'm busy being the TV writer I want to be for myself. I couldn't be happier to be this busy. I'm developing new plays with my theatre company. I'm going to attend a national theatre conference in June in Portland. I'll get to see my brother and his family while I'm there as well. I need to make plans for May - maybe to go to Vegas to see my godmother or to go up to San Francisco to see friends.

Finally having some time to think will allow me to get work done. I feel like I've been running on empty a lot lately. I'll be back on set for the last few days of production in about two weeks, but for now, I can just readjust and see what work needs to be done.

I have a pilot to put the finish touches on - been doing that for the past two months.
I have a new pilot to write.
Maybe I have a spec to write.
I have a play that I want to continue working on - but I may even turn that into a pilot.
There's stuff to do.
I'm also directing a workshop in June.

I've given myself a lot of work to do and maybe not a lot of time to myself. My friend Dan and I were talking at lunch about having time to just chill the fuck out and let things happen. It's so easy to just fill space with nonsense. Sometimes it's important to be alone and relaxed. It's important to have days where you just blog and stare out the window at the beautiful city you live in. Not every day needs to be one where you get 25 pages of your pilot written. I need to be doing some more working out. I need to start watching my diet again. I need to have a little more self care. It's the time to do that. I had a little respite last month in Vancouver, but then I had to get back to work right away and then right back into production. So it was three weeks of a lot of panic and craziness.

I have class once a week for the next four weeks. That should be good enough. I have to finish this pilot. I feel like I don't have anything else hanging over me to get that done.

I'm usually not good with time on my hands. I get antsy. I get impatient. I get depressed. But today's okay. It's Wednesday. I'm going to stay here at the library and wait traffic out a bit. Then I'm going to chill the fuck out and watch Real Housewives of New York at home and get a good night's sleep before teaching tomorrow afternoon in San Diego. I don't have to get up early. I can head out the door at 10:30 AM. And I can relax on the drive down until I have office hours and then six hours of teaching. But until then - I'm going to take things at my own pace.

My intention is relaxation.
My intention is stillness.
My intention is self care.
My intention is rejuvenation.
My intention is calm.

I am grateful for friendship.
I am grateful for Wednesday afternoons.
I am grateful for knowing what I want.
I am grateful for good lunches at old restaurants.