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About 10 years ago I did a method acting class with Jack Waltzer.  Jack’s a lifetime member of The Actors Studio in New York – a place and a philosophy.  He trained with America’s first acting teachers and directors of the Stanislavski System including Stella Adler, Sanford Meisner, Lee Strasberg, Bobby Lewis, Uta Hagen and Elia Kazan, among others.  So he knows a thing or two.

The character he gave me to play was faced with an obstacle, as with all good drama.  Once I realised what she was worried about, when I was realIy honest with myself, I thought, that’s odd, that’s how I feel…about playing her.  And he said: “Yes of course. The character’s problem is usually yours.  Art imitates life and life imitates art.”  It was one of those moments I’ll never forget.  I was dumbstruck as time and time again, as a young actress analysing scripts, there it was, how I was feeling.

Now, you might say, well you were projecting what you felt onto the character.  And that’s maybe true.  We all like to find common ground to connect with others.  But as long as I could back it up with the clues the writer had given me, The Given Circumstances, as Stanislavski called them, that was a valid interpretation of the character and my way in.  My way in to understanding her and finding her authenticity in me.

After further investigation I realised that this was not a new idea.  I was just late to the party. Plato had originally said it or maybe someone before him who wasn’t documented.  Oscar Wilde also wrote in his 1889 essay The Decay of Lying that, “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life.”  Art is a reach, a higher frequency, with theatricality and meaning oh and structure and sometimes poetry and symbolism.  We all want to be the girl in the amazing photo, painting, dance sequence in front of the mirror in A CHORUS LINE.  Somehow we learnt that’s what we should want and what the marketing and advertising industry rely on us feeling. So here buy this crème, dress, car and you can feel like her.  Although art has to be inspired by life on some level, whether it’s a reflection of or comment on or a story about someone’s life.  The people who make art have only life as their stimulus – whatever they interpret life to be from their internal and external world.  I love Steller Adler’s phrase, “Theatre is an X ray of our time” and comedy being “journalism with jokes”…as I call it.  Yes I did just pop my hat in the ring with major philosophers…let’s gloss over that.

So if we were to give the world an X ray now…what are our Given Circumstances?  A pandemic with options of how it started ranging from:

a) Our fault – cruelly trading exotic animals in wet farms, to…

b) Our fault – catching something when too far into a natural habitat where we don’t belong, to…

c) Our fault – a man-made virus to… destroy and gain power? They’re usually the first points on the agenda for that kind of “man.”   Mass unemployment, an economy in tatters, a Government in monumental debt, dodgy Global leaders, startling weather evidence of looming Climate Disaster, the imminent future of automation, racial and gender discrimination, an education system that isn’t preparing us for the future, a workforce that is about to become extinct, mental health conditions on the rise and a huge proportion of society, the ones who entertain and distract us from all this – freelancers, who are unsupported.

I certainly feel like imitating a bit of Art right now…

“Katie aims for strong comic dynamics and funny character pastiches.”  Is what was said about my new show in a script report.  That was on material I wrote pre… you know what.  It’s difficult to see the funny side of the last 16 months isn’t it.

I actually had a very positive writing experience at the beginning of Lockdown – Part One.  I spoke about the luxury of focused time to spend on my next show: EDUCATION WE DIDN’T HAVE when Jim Schembri from The Herald Sun, Melbourne interviewed me.  You can hear more here.

However since then I have written a few ideas in response to what’s around us rather than the show.  A multiplatform documentary idea… of all things.  That’s a curved ball.  I also saw the need to create my own voiceover business from home to keep myself a float.  That involved setting up a home studio, learning how to be a sound engineer and editor, pitching for worl and creating a website. The latter has been, gosh, almost a year’s work.  An amazing experience for collating work from over the past 15 years of performing.  Watching and editing old shows, sorting voice work, showcasing the new studio.

But actually the other thing I spoke to Jim about what the luxury of having time to put a show down and then picking it up with fresh eyes.  A wise showrunner once said I was a vomiter!  I’m not sure if you can tell….! There are two types of writer apparently – a vomiter who’s runs with ideas, characters, dialogue and the other who’s good at structure, form, edits.  For me, it’s super important for my process of writing to re-read the script a few months later, as if I was a reader not the writer…and then edit the hell out of it!  So, I’m looking forward to launching this website puppy and picking up the show again and seeing what I wrote!  The show is about life and the education that would have been nice to have! Or certainly what I would have liked. I’m going to interview some really interesting people so I’m excited to get back to it.

We live in the most dystopian of times.  It’s as if we’ve stepped straight out of a sci fi film.  The Covid 19 pandemic has forced us all to reevaluate how we live our lives, what we’re doing with them and what’s next for us.  There is so much incredible creativity happening, but regrettably so much is still behind closed curtains.  As I write this, some theatres have now been closed for 16 months.  There was a moment of glory, for one night only for some like The National in the Autumn, but we had no real idea when theatres could reopen again, stay open and now the biggie…attract their audiences back.

At the beginning of lockdown the media reported that a “cultural catastrophe” faced the UK with the loss of more than 400,000 jobs in the sector as a result of the pandemic. Industry leaders warned that the creative sector is “on the brink of devastation”, with research predicting a loss of £74 billion in revenue in 2020.

Some Theatres have closed forever, leading ladies are delivery drivers and leading men stack shelves in supermarkets.  Private Industry Funds have done their best to provide emergency support for the entertainment workforce of freelancers.  Casting directors and agents have given webinars, masterclasses with writers, producers, directors went on zoom and writing competitions have been a fantastic way of staying in the creative flow.  Artists are streaming shows from home, web series are set in lockdown and the stage is now a digital platform near you.  Brighton Fringe had a go at opening and now it’s Edinburgh Fringe’s turn.  The Stage put on the first THE FUTURE OF THEATRE conference where theatremakers discussed what needed to be done. The West End is open but ticket sales are not in line with how audiences said they’d be back.  They are nervous, despite theaters keeping Covid regulations.  Executive director Kathy Bourne of Chichester Festival Theatre’s said:

“It’s clear the overwhelming majority of our audiences are comfortable, relaxed and excited to be back. We are noticing, however, that an increasing minority prefer not to wear face coverings, despite our strong recommendation that they should do so (something reiterated in pre-show emails and during their visit, and all our front-of-house staff wear masks); and this is alongside an increasing number of people who are discomforted that not everyone is wearing a mask. The threat of a Covid-related show interruption is ongoing, but: “We optimistic about the future as the vaccine roll-out continues.”

I hope if audiences want to keep the show on the road they’ll err on the side of caution with masks (if they’re medically able to wear them) to help theatre companies and their shows stay open. They really can’t afford to close because of you.

Many performers have fallen through the net of Government support due to the portfolio nature of our work.  4.8 million people are registered self-employed in the UK but if over 50% of our earnings have been in ‘employed / part time positions’ in between self-employed performing work, Universal Credit of £411 a month is the only option.

Front of house staff have left the industry as they can’t afford to stay, just like other casual staff in the hospitality world.  Both the theatre and hospitality worlds work hand in hand to provide nourishment for the body and soul… but only if we actually go there.

There’s a palpable passion for the artform of theatre in the UK.  We are so good at theatre and the arts – that makes the current situation so hard to bear.  Theatre generated £1.28 billion in ticket revenue in 2018.  Theatre is one of the best things that is made here, done here and exported to audiences around the world.  When the Government want to talk about how great Britain is, they usually use The Arts to demonstrate our talent… which speaks for itself.

As the Duchess of Cornwall said at The Olivier Awards, “Whatever form a performance takes, it allows us to deepen our understanding of ourselves, others and the world around us.  Perhaps most importantly, those of us who believe in the theatre also believe in its resilience.  It is a cornerstone of a fertile cultural life, a forum for debate, and a powerful means of building community.  A play can be many things – funny, heart-breaking, cathartic, comforting. It can entertain us for an evening, or enrich the soul forever.”

But alas, the freelance, Arts and Entertainment world is suffering.  The cultural home of our storytellers – actors, performers, dancers, comedians, singers…where we huddle around the campfire for their story, has either been shut for over 16 months, haemorrhaging money from opening and closing, bankrupt or trying to stay afloat.

I believe in the resilience of theatre. My logical brain knows what happens on stage is not real… yet I’m 100% in.  I’m a believer.

The collective: Freelancers Make Theatre Work have been a source of inspiration and support for me.  Art imitates the life of freelancers no better than in the newsletter by Sunita Hinduja.  She asked Freelancers on Twitter how they felt.  So a retweet for some beautiful writing from…I’ve lost count how many lockdowns:

“Dear Industry this is how we are feeling.

F is for Fear, the constant threat of having to stop and your pay being reduced or going unpaid if projects are cancelled or runs shortened.

R is for Resilience, this is a word often used when describing freelance theatre people, but after 15months, returning to an industry that is so precarious and being able to get through it and adapt isn’t about resilience it is about need, to pay rent, to stay in your chosen home, to create.  Don’t mistake resilience in freelancers as an over tolerance of adversity. This is not sustainable.

E is for Equality, the desire and drive to get more Freelancers of all disciplines to have access to decision making spaces, board rooms, Senior Management meetings, planning meetings.

E is for Environment and as we return with a renewed realisation that the Industry will need to actively engage with Climate emergency on every production not just some. A welcome change, will freelancers have to carry the cost of personal and professional development around this?

L is for Leadership and the sense that this was lacking in March 2020 for Freelancers in the sector, it got a little better post CRF2 however now in 2021 as buildings and shows begin to reopen the priority is again bricks, mortar and  bottom line  – over people.

A is for Anti Racism and Solidarity training, work that buildings and their full time staff are able to access, concerms from the Freelance community not attached to buildings that there is very little free, funded or even subsidised professional and personal development that Freelancers can access particularly around this work.

N is for Nervous about the return to work filled with questions and uncertainty –  can I still do the job, will I remember how to do it, do I have the stamina to launch back into 60hrs a week again.  Will there be work for me? Very happy for my peers but –  why haven’t I been asked yet?

C is for Confidence, after 15months of not working 13years of experience the confidence has gone and Freelancers feel like in some cases they are at the start of their journey again.

E is for Excluded from any support, despite working as a PAYE freelancer and paying taxes for over 15 years, just missing out on furlough as they weren’t on a show at the time.  And now after continual show postponement just missing out on Maternity pay and leave.

R is for Responsibility, the pressure of opening a show in this moment knowing that you could be the reason your show has to stop or pause. Either because of contracting Covid or being pinged by Track and Trace.  100 people being out of work and unpaid because of one individual is a massive sense of responsibility.

S is for Scotland, who’s leadership is cautious and clear, rules are consistent and restrictions modestly removed Freelancers reported feeling “safe and well looked after” Performing Arts have clear and non negotiable guidelines for organisations and institutions to follow.

M is for Mental Health; the general feeling amongst many Freelancers is that “we are not OK”

A is for Anger at the governments obvious contempt for the Arts and the constant mis management and advice to the sector.

K is for Knackered – See tired.

E is for Exhaustion, working hard before Covid to be Economical and canny in design, but now this seems to be is an industry must.  A feeling that creative energies go mostly into this and not storytelling. Especially when these shows and stories were designed and told to be delivered in 2020 but were continually postponed.

T is for Track and Trace. Enough said.

H is for Help. I have massive concerns about social distancing being removed as my health isn’t great.

E is for Excited to be getting back to the work we all love after 15months of something that isn’t your passion.

A is for Anger.

T is for Tired and scared to let the tired in.

R is for Rules, frustration that theatres have to and are sticking to the rules, but people in power can carelessly break them.

E is for Energy, not having enough to get through another difficult uncertain period of work and creativity.

W is for Waiting, to hear if jobs that have been postponed will ever be made.

O is for Ombudsman, a smart call from Amanda Parker at Inc Arts, an independent service or individual for the Sector to ensure transparency, accountability and resolution.  Someone on the outside identifying and addressing the systemic issues, this would particularly benefit Freelancers who apart from the unions have no consistent HR support.

R is for Renegotiate, the current COVID variations on the union contracts are really not serving the workforce well.  Who does it serve?

K is for Kindness, Freelancers holding each other through this uncertain time.

The life of a freelancer in 2021.  And we’re meant to bring the distraction and fun!  We of course, will.  It’s what we do.

Simple! For the last five years I was looking into Home Studios.  Do I do a have a make shift one under the stairs?  What about a pro one specifically made for me out in a shed?  Or do I buy the one you make like lego – A StudioBricks?

I went for tier 3 and have never looked back.  Here is more info on my studio and some voiceovers that I’m delighted to have recorded in my studio recently.

When we were all locked down, voiceover artists that already had home studios were in a seriously good situation.  Suddenly, oh I’ll have a guess at 70% (and probably more) of us voiceover artists in the UK were out the mix for casting and delivering work.  We couldn’t get to studios…because they were shut!  The world was shut.  I’m sure those voiceover artists worked like crazy making hay while the sun was shining.  And good for them.  Their forward thinking and investment in themselves and their career paid off.  We all deserve those moments.

I’ve been doing voiceovers for…oooh well over ten years with my agents in London and Australia.  If I got voiceovers through online casting websites I would go to Cheap As Chips in London which is a fantastic studio.  It’s part of The Sound Company so proper profesh, but affordable for individuals.  There I’d work with an engineer and we’d have my clients on the phone or in person and we’d do our thing.

Then a funny thing happened.  I was nominated by The One Voice Awards for a radio commercial I did for an app called Go Out London.  A lifestyle app telling you cool places to go that I recorded with a regular client Global Media.  This was quite a surprise and one of those emails you read with half an eye open in the morning…that really wakes you up.  Was it spam?  Was my first thought.  No, a real life nomination for “Radio – Commercials Best Performance – Female.” Crumbs.  I didn’t know much about One Voice or their company Gravy For The Brain but I saw they had a One Voice Conference on and I thought sure let’s roll the dice.  I’d done lots of things like this for acting, writing but never a conference, workshops in voiceovers and god forbit meeting another voiceover artist!  We just passed each other by in Soho, undercover like secret agents, secret noise at the ready.

I have spent my voiceover career in the TV, Radio, Online commercials space and of course kept the lights on with Corporates. I’d also really enjoyed Radio Drama.  I really didn’t know much about E Learning or Audiobooks and I was just getting into Gaming and Animation.  So my eyes were out on stalks at the conference!

I guess the industry has changed a lot in the last 10 years but I’ve been happy in my commercial and corporate bubble that has helped me to fund and tour my one person shows.  Here’s a link to my shows and my press should you be interested!

So I was fascinated finding out about these other areas of voiceovers and the industry – you had to brand yourself?!  Plus I loved hearing stories, techniques and practical how to guides from wonderful, inspirational performers, agents, directors and producers in the industry.  After the conference that was it – I was getting a studio.  I dug out my research and rang the studios I worked in: Jungle, Grand Central, Cheap As Chips, Scramble – all were so helpful about equipment they had and liked.  I had a list.  It looked expensive.

Then I rang some producers / sound engineers I worked with for the main questions – do I make a studio of my own or do I buy a ready-made one?  Apparently if you’re going to build a box within a box and get the sound right, you could be looking up to about £15-20K BUT it wouldn’t be able to be moved…if you moved house type thing.  The ready-made ones could be dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere….and were nearer £10,000.  If it’s an investment into my career and future I thought, it might as well last as long as possible.  Alice at Black Cat and Acousti Cabins is so helpful about StudioBricks.  Basically she changed my life by helping me buy mine (through a loan from my parents and I’m due to be paying them back 25% of what I earn…which I must start soon…after the website is launched!)

What you wouldn’t think about is, if you’re not having your studio on the ground floor – you might need a structural engineer to check that your floor will take the weight.  I was quoted a £700 to a grand!!  In the end I didn’t need it The Universe weirdly send a structural engineer to my house for some other thing I was investigating and he gave me the OK.  After you’ve worked out you’re not going to collapse your house, you’re good to go!

Here is the list of what I needed and now I’m cooking with gas… Oh, you need someone to help you build it – my amazing removal men helped me from Brighton’s Love Removals and Rob Bee helped me set it up inside.

STUDIO:

StudioBricks Studio
StudioBricks Fan Ventilator
StudioBricks VO Addition – Full VO kit
StudioBricks ShippingEQUIPMENT:
Neuman TLM 103 Mic
Pop shield or Mic Wind protector.
Beyerdynamic DT770 headphones
Audient interface ID14Macbook Pro ( had already)
Stool to sit on inside the booth that won’t make a noise and is material and wood preferably.
Monitor for inside the booth to run the sessions / edit as you don’t want your computer in the studio as when they get hot the fan makes a sound.  That will ALWAYS happen when you have a job.    Never when you don’t…you know the drill!Editing chair outside the booth – something comfortable!
Wireless keyboard – to talk to your computer outside the studio
Wireless mouse – ditto
Monitor – editing desk
Broadband powerline adaptor – run broadband to studio room through electric sockets from router
Printer
Printer cartridges

SOFTWARE:

Adobe Audition (or Pro Tools – if you want to record to video)
Source Connect Standard account and set up feeSource Connect Now accountZoom Skype
Loopback – playback software
Studio install external
Studio install internal PLUS VAT!

Once it’s all working you need to know how to frigging work it!!  Cue Rob Bee at B Double E who helped me set mine up.  We had an initial editing lesson and he was always there for those “HELP!” moments at the beginning…and a bit in the middle….where you realise you haven’t switched something on or turned it up or something  embarrassing!

Then there are things you pick up along the way, like:

1.Restart your computer before every job just to be on the safe side.

2.Close Adobe Audition when you plug the studio in again to your laptop, unplug the interface, wait, re plug it in, then open Adobe and hey presto – in your Adobe Preferences it will find your interface again.

3.If you can’t hear audio, open the interface dashboard and check the headphones dial is up, mine always turns off when I haven’t used it and I used to have a mild heart attack until I worked this out / Rob told me.  Or check your audio icon in your menu bar is set to your interface not internal speakers.  Had a couple of those Faceplant moments…

4.I have a troubleshooting list of things to check – like how your playback software should be set up and the settings for all the different connection options.  Because when you’re in the middle of a job and the client’s internet goes down and they drop off the call, you will have the biggest anxiety rush and you’ll know: that’s it you, it’s your fault and your studio is broken and they’ll never book you again, you probably won’t ever work again, EVER.  So when something happens, and it will, I just breathe, and go through my checks that I wrote when I was sane and I know it’s not me.

5.Even if a client says it is you, you can calmly go through your checks and say things are all good your side and help them trouble shoot. For example-  why they have an echo ( coz they aren’t wearing earphones and there’s two of them on the call in the room) or it’s best you have the same setting on Source Connect Now – either all have Best or whatever is OK for their internet.  And as we all know from the IT Crowd – have you tried switching it on and switching it off again.  A reboot of your laptop sometimes sorts things.

That’s my top 5!  I know Rob does a great webinar on Gravy For The Brain about how to use a studio so I’ll hand the baton over I’m holding weirdly!

Don’t get me wrong, I had a couple of times when I sat on the floor and cried becuase I was knackered and couldn’t work something and all this investment and I couldn’t do it…blah blah blah… but it is a new skill – being an audio engineer and an editor for voiceover artists.  So I try to be patient with myself and if I’m stuck I call Rob!

What is amazing about having a home studio is I’m learning and finessing how to give my clients ( and me!) the best possible experience.

I’m super grateful to Alice at StudioBricks for my studio, StudioSpares for my equipment, Source Connect for my connections and One Voice Conference for the inspiration!  Good luck with yours!

“Just write a Blog…you are a writer, write something.  It’ll be good for you.” Unknown

Funny comment, “it’ll be good for you” isn’t it.  From someone who had literally met me for a few hours but could see I was on the precipice of a world of pain.  What would I call it?  I asked and came up with some sad titles.  Raw emotion and heartbreak was all over my face.  I was just about to say goodbye to someone who I never thought I’d have to say goodbye to.

“Just write one” she said.

Well, here I am, eight years later, with a title…and a blog.

I think what this lady meant was writing is cathartic and healing and boy did I look like I was going to need it.  At the time however I decided I knew nothing and sought answers in books, that you had to read inside other books, for fear of anyone on the tube seeing.  I wasn’t at the stage of: Yes, I am reading, Are You The One For Me by Barbara De Angelis.  Have you?  If you haven’t read it…well, it should be on the curriculum.

But we don’t like to be seen to be reading “self-help books,” “personal development literature” however you want to tart it up.  There’s the worry that it shows, in some way, we’re broken… and might corner you at a party telling you the whole story to try and get some “other” angle on it, that we had overlooked in our millionth playback of the situation.  Projecting basically… the truth.  We would like any lifeline from reality please, whether it’s a few syllables, we’ll take it… Manageable chunks, feed by a stranger… because they don’t have an agenda.  It’s usually exactly what our friends and family have said but we trust strangers more in those moments because we all have a Blanche DuBois bone in our body…somewhere.

Also, sometimes we do feel broken.  But by reading what someone else has written, who gets it – probably because they’ve been through it – we see a way out the sauvignon blanc lake and request a new team shirt.  Maybe we will book ourselves for The Sequel.  Maybe even convert the pain and experience into art, creatively express it so others can recognise, understand and thank you for somehow helping them, when they felt broken.  That feels like a nice positive loop.  They say growing might feel like breaking sometimes.  Maybe being broken is good as we get to rebuild…better.

My positive loop was Stand Up Comedy…then a one woman show.  I poured all the feelings into them and then let the characters write the rest.  Comedy is a great outlet for frustration and pain as when comedians get it right, we all recognise ourselves and laugh at the universal truth demonstrated in this one anecdote or storyline.  We essentially laugh at ourselves and that’s pretty healing if it’s out of compassionate recognition or helpful for awareness… rather than laugh AT ourselves.  I don’t recommend doing comedy without processing the emotions in a room however with someone who refuses to speak because you have to come up with the answers, yawn…i.e. in a safe space with a professional.

Along the way, I have now come to the conclusion, the lady was right.  Writing is good for me.  It’s probably good for you too.  If you’re a creative I’m sure you’ve heard of The Artist’s Way which insists everyone writes three pages of A4 in a stream of consciousness writing style. i.e. literally anything that’s in your head but not stopping… before starting a day.  The Morning Pages.  Again. I think this should be on the curriculum for the beginning of every school day.  Whether we’re in physical school or the school of life.  Whatever we woke up to on, well I call it, Radio Katie.  It usually starts off with the headlines of: You haven’t done this yet, I don’t think they liked what you did then and what about that thing you did….23 years ago…that was awkward wasn’t it.  Do I need this blaring in my head when starting a new day?  One hundy no.  How do I get rid of it?  Yup, The Morning Pages.  Not only do we get the worries out, with a side bar of a to do list, but on good days someone starts answering us.  They help us with the problems. They even say, you know what KRC, you’re doing OK and what about being proud of where you’ve explored and the fact you still have the Team KRC shirt on.  That number does not come off your back.  You’re still in the ring, you haven’t been knocked out yet.

Oh. You know who They are don’t you…

So now I’m like the anti-smoker who gave up smoking a few years ago.  I could bore you about how important writing is for a healthy mind… .  I’ll find excuses not to do it though, as I’m human and procrastination certainly was on the curriculum…I think it was called The Curriculum…  Sometimes I’m scared of digging up emotion from yesterday, sometimes I don’t want to face how I actually feel about something.  Sometimes I just don’t have time.  But it’s annoying.  As it’s like mediation when they say, when you don’t have time for meditation make more time for it.  The difference between clearing and dealing with the news on Radio Katie head on, before I step into the world and interact with fellow humans and animals, is basically the difference between feeling genuinely happy or not.

So the lady was right.  We write to get in touch with our intuition.  We know deep down what’s true, even while we ignore ourselves and consciously rev the accelerator of what we think we want while our subconscious slams on the brakes.  Our internal Sat Nav guiding us to where we’re meant to be.  We don’t live there, what are you thinking?! Do a frigging U Turn!

Also, wait, I thought they were the elders.  Oh yes, the mythical ones who just know and wear great headdresses and have magic powers and ride unicorns while they astral travel.  Or just anyone sane and on the outside of what’s going on in the inside of your mind. For me. For us.  That is sometimes other people in our Blanch moments.  But the other person that’s watching what I think and do at all times…Is Me.

And what about the fact 90% of our 60,000 thoughts a day are repetitive.  What a waste of time Radio Katie really is.  It’s certainly not ideal for creative productivity and a “yes please” RSVP to tea with the mad hatter.  Writing releases the old thoughts, lets the new ones through so we feel better and on good days – we solve it.  I think that sums it up. It doesn’t matter what we write.  We just have to write, act, do a voiceover, or try / do / have a crack at whatever scares you…despite our fear of failure or success, whatever your daemon is.  We just have to start.  Yea but starting…!  I hear ya.

So the title: KRC JUST A WORK IN PROGRESS is what I’ve learnt from my icy, black, mogul run…when I was up for a gentle blue run and a long lunch of spag bol, chips and mayo and Vin Chaud with my bessie.  It’s also a state I think I’ll always be in.  Not the long lunch…I wish, the work in progress bit.

Cue Latin motto like ‘In Failure There’s Success’ or something…

Oh….footnote.

My other title ideas for the blog were:

Just….solving the problems of today hoping they are the solutions of tomorrow – Uh…just wack “blue sky thinking” in there and that’s enough wiffy Business chat for today thanks.

Just tackling this today so I can put my feet up tomorrow?  My dodgy maths would make that – you want a three day week?!

Just tackling this today so I can hang out with my foal tomorrow – too factual and cat out the bag…ual.

Just make your own magic – too Disney BUT being in a Disney is the goal. That and voicing a a Pixar character please.

Just… watch the chrysalis? Too metaphorical / corny. I did use it for an icon though in my Voiceover Process on the website…so…there’s that.

Just do what you can’t – nailed it!   Buy the girl a neon sign…but damn it. Taken.

Just Do It? Again. Taken!

Ugh. I’m never going to be original, who do I think I am thinking I might have something to say.  Radio Katie plays the classics: self-doubt, self-sabotage, a sugar inhale of aisle 7, v. non-essential shopping and stomping to all the tunes whilst in the fridge door, a dry number from Provence.  “I’m not doing this, I can’t write.  A Blog…honestly…who do I think I am? Who even was that woman?”

And after all walk aways…there it is. The tap on your shoulder from the inspiration goddess. “You showed up today” she says.  You show up, I show up.  Sorry I’m late but you….”

“…had to work it out on my…yada yada…that old chestnut.  Talking of chestnuts I need to go and see mine.

I hope that my conclusions in this blog – while nursing the bruises from bumpy slalom attempts – might help you mince it, waltz it, generally style it out if we’re on the same course.  It’s certainly feels good to write, make sense of it all and end the experience a bit more zen AND Disney.

Just A Work In Progress then?  Pretty much covers it. Thanks to that lady.  Save.  Upload.