Acting and Directing, preferably not at the same time.
Hanging out in outerspace...
Sunday, September 18, 2011
If it wasn't too late, I'd try...
Monday, September 12, 2011
September 12th.
'That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But, it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it and think how different its course would have been. Pause, you who read this, and think for a long moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on that memorable day.' -- Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
So begins the book One Day by David Nicholls, now a feature film I still want to see. Problem is, I always want to read the book before seeing the movie, and I've been a bit busy lately. So I started reading this when the movie was already out in theaters...and not receiving the best of reviews. Still, I found it somewhat serendipitous that I started reading this today; a book looking into the relationship between two people on one given day over twenty years.
The notion intrigued me because I have always had a strange connection with random days, days that to anyone else would be forgotten dates on a calendar, but that stick with me and remind me of where I was on that day however many moons ago when the day became infamous and ingrained in my mind.
I previously wrote about my acknowledgement of May 23rd, the date I graduated high school, but there are different dates that hold private memories in my soul, dates that normally go unnoticed to others, but receive some notice from me. Usually these are dates that were not chosen by me, but by the events that occur to make it memorable. I blushingly confess that more than once I have tried to make events occur on a certain day so that I could remember an anniversary on a date I like. Yes, I like the number 13, but even I know now that postponing a relationship for it to begin on that day is just asking for failure. Afterall, as Harry told Sally, "...when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to begin as soon as possible."
The past week has found me pretty emotional, crying at the most random things at the drop of a hat. I thought maybe the stress of a busy schedule was getting to me, ignoring the obvious answer right in front of me; September 11th. I couldn't fathom why the 10th anniversary of something was harder for me to handle than the previous years, but that seems to be the case. I wanted to write about it, to maybe work out what was happening in my head, but found it heartbreaking. The whole weekend was numbing. I came to the conclusion, that while I have had some horrible things happen to me personally in my life, events that should qualify as the worst day of my life, they still didn't compare to this date when nothing happened to me specifically, but still managed to change every aspect of my life as I had previously known it.
When reminiscing about life 10 years ago, I was reminded of something else, perhaps my saving grace, the event that happened after my world came tumbling down. On September 12th, 2001 I attended my first workshop for Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way.
Unsure whether class was still going to happen, my mom and I showed up in the basement of a church to find another group of people full of uncertainty. When the teacher shared her same doubts, she stated that her decision to continue the workshop as originally planned was due to the feeling that maybe now, more than ever, was when we needed to focus on living our most authentic and creative lives. We all agreed and thus began 12 weeks that changed the course of my life for the better.
I have tried to recreate the growth I felt during that first class a few times and usually start with gusto that fades before the 3 months are over. When visiting my mom in Pueblo in July, I went with her to the Friends of the Library bookstore where I found the follow-up book to The Artist's Way, Walking in This World. I happily purchased it, thinking it would be a great way to get me back into the swing of things, to jumpstart my creativity that has been stagnant for far too long. It was still sitting on the table next to my chair today, unopened and unexplored.
Shame and guilt kept me from cracking it open today, instead I googled The Artist's Way. And what did I unfold but Julia Cameron's new blog classroom! http://juliacameronlive.com/2011/09/12/and-so-we-begin/
So begins the book One Day by David Nicholls, now a feature film I still want to see. Problem is, I always want to read the book before seeing the movie, and I've been a bit busy lately. So I started reading this when the movie was already out in theaters...and not receiving the best of reviews. Still, I found it somewhat serendipitous that I started reading this today; a book looking into the relationship between two people on one given day over twenty years.
The notion intrigued me because I have always had a strange connection with random days, days that to anyone else would be forgotten dates on a calendar, but that stick with me and remind me of where I was on that day however many moons ago when the day became infamous and ingrained in my mind.
I previously wrote about my acknowledgement of May 23rd, the date I graduated high school, but there are different dates that hold private memories in my soul, dates that normally go unnoticed to others, but receive some notice from me. Usually these are dates that were not chosen by me, but by the events that occur to make it memorable. I blushingly confess that more than once I have tried to make events occur on a certain day so that I could remember an anniversary on a date I like. Yes, I like the number 13, but even I know now that postponing a relationship for it to begin on that day is just asking for failure. Afterall, as Harry told Sally, "...when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to begin as soon as possible."
The past week has found me pretty emotional, crying at the most random things at the drop of a hat. I thought maybe the stress of a busy schedule was getting to me, ignoring the obvious answer right in front of me; September 11th. I couldn't fathom why the 10th anniversary of something was harder for me to handle than the previous years, but that seems to be the case. I wanted to write about it, to maybe work out what was happening in my head, but found it heartbreaking. The whole weekend was numbing. I came to the conclusion, that while I have had some horrible things happen to me personally in my life, events that should qualify as the worst day of my life, they still didn't compare to this date when nothing happened to me specifically, but still managed to change every aspect of my life as I had previously known it.
When reminiscing about life 10 years ago, I was reminded of something else, perhaps my saving grace, the event that happened after my world came tumbling down. On September 12th, 2001 I attended my first workshop for Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way.
Unsure whether class was still going to happen, my mom and I showed up in the basement of a church to find another group of people full of uncertainty. When the teacher shared her same doubts, she stated that her decision to continue the workshop as originally planned was due to the feeling that maybe now, more than ever, was when we needed to focus on living our most authentic and creative lives. We all agreed and thus began 12 weeks that changed the course of my life for the better.
I have tried to recreate the growth I felt during that first class a few times and usually start with gusto that fades before the 3 months are over. When visiting my mom in Pueblo in July, I went with her to the Friends of the Library bookstore where I found the follow-up book to The Artist's Way, Walking in This World. I happily purchased it, thinking it would be a great way to get me back into the swing of things, to jumpstart my creativity that has been stagnant for far too long. It was still sitting on the table next to my chair today, unopened and unexplored.
Shame and guilt kept me from cracking it open today, instead I googled The Artist's Way. And what did I unfold but Julia Cameron's new blog classroom! http://juliacameronlive.com/2011/09/12/and-so-we-begin/
Serendipitous, no? I felt that stirring in the very bottom of my soul that occurs when I feel like something is aligning between me and the universe, nothing I can name, but something I know I need.
This little task may be just the thing to get me back to where I need to be, to the person who held onto the discovering of my creativity like my life depended upon it. Because the truth is, it does.
This little task may be just the thing to get me back to where I need to be, to the person who held onto the discovering of my creativity like my life depended upon it. Because the truth is, it does.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
