There’s a Whole Lotta World Out There
It’s good to take stock of what you’ve done and visualize what possibilities await.
Photo by Sean Pierce on Unsplash
I’ve been doing a ton of reflective journaling lately in preparation for a new pilot - one that’s a love story to a scene and group of people from my formative years in the Chicago punk rock scene. At the same time I’ve been thinking and visualizing about what the next year or five years of mine and my family’s life will be. For most of my life I’ve felt like things were done to me - a victim of circumstances, if you will. But it’s only recently (better late than never) that I’ve learned how much control I have over what I want to do and how I react to circumstances.
From a writing perspective I think this is incredibly important; in fact, it’s probably the distinguishing characteristic that makes a good writer employed and great writer not - learning to control what you can and ignore what you can’t.
Today’s Accomplishments
Writing this (short) blog post.
Worked on the next “lesson” in my course for my accountability group. It’s on brainstorming and story ideation.
Wrote out the character bio/sketch for a character in my new pilot.
Tomorrow’s Tasks/Goals
Write another blog post.
Revise the logline for my new pilot and submit it to my accountability group.
Read material and take notes/feedback for my writer’s group.
Finish the character bios/sketches for my new pilot.
Today’s Story Worthy Moment
We got a notice that our lease on our apartment is up. The management company for our apartment building wants to know if we’re interested in signing on for another year - at an increased rate, nonetheless. My wife is all but done with Los Angeles and wants to move to Phoenix. Me? Not so much.
While at the park today, with the wind blowing and the temperature dropping, my wife and I had one of those “important” conversations about what’s next for our family.
As I watched our kids jump around and play on a playground that they love and are familiar with, and I think about the friends we’ve met and the life we’ve built here in LA, it’s hard to think about leaving. But, LA is just too damn expensive to raise a family, so I totally get wanting to leave.
It’s interesting to think about what’s underneath the conflict between a married couple when they argue. Is the argument really about money? Really about wanting a new house? Really about wanting a new job? As is true in the stories we read and watch, real people rarely say what they mean and mean what they say.
