Write Your Own Ticket

Do you believe in magic?  I don't mean the kind that involves bunnies and card tricks, although I like you are not opposed to a good show,  a stiff drink and a blonde in a coffin being cut in half... those can be some pretty damn memorable nights.  What I'm talking about the is the kind of magic that is more like providence or serendipity or... ya know, magic magic.



A few years back I wrote a play that among other things had magical tropical fish as a major theme running or should I say "swimming" through it ;)  I put it away to rest somewhere in a folder until a recent endorphin filled jump rope session sparked  a few thousand light bulbs to go off.  I had the thought that the play ought to be shared (genius, I know) but  So many artists get stuck after they create something but that day light bulbs were popping and I realized it didn't have to be that way.  I picked up the phone and was lucky enough to have my good friend Rozine on the other line.  It was like having a female Tony Robbins on the other end.   She's all about the yes and she heard me loud and clear.  Say hello!

You see, I like many artists, had finished or almost finished another body of work and just sort of put it away, to slowly die without really considering the cost of not sharing.  I can only speak for myself but I've come to see the cost for me is HUGE.  Like detrimentally large.  Part of why I create is the sheer joy of the journey, yes. The experience of coming to a blank page and starting with one line and staying with it until something emerges and then boom your dancing with the flow.  However the other extremely valuable part is the part where it is received into the hearts and minds of my community.  It's where I contribute.  While everything I create might not be shared with the masses ( nor should it all be) I see, that for me, If I make a banquet - it should be received.  Allowed to walk and talk and breathe and shine.  I think a part of me for a long time has been afraid of that last part.  All the what ifs.  The last thing I want to do is give crap but A) that's not how I roll and B) It's not my place to judge.  It's my job to do the work and get it out there, even if it's a work in progress. There, here, where the world is happening and minds and hearts connect.  Which is what it's all about for lil ol me.  That's the magic.
Speaking of... 

I decided to put a staged reading of the play up.  I gave myself less than four weeks to cast, find a space, rehearse and produce it. Within two week my other half and I were getting tickets to Maui... you know that place with all those tropical fish.  This by the way was no small feat.  While we had always wanted to go it seemingly became available out of thin air right after I made the decision regarding my play.  Two days after I shared my tropical fish on stage, the big blue ocean shared theirs with me.  And yes, I think there's a connection.  I joyously sang to them with my snorkle gear on... to let them know their banquet was received, and oh were they received.

So go write your own ticket.  Write it loud and share it.  If you have love for what you do, that's all the permission you need to bring it to the hearts of minds of many.  You never know what else is in store... and if you happen to pull bunnies out of hats then that's double magic for you I guess.