Jane – early days
Living inside your head? Isn’t that what we’re all doing to some extent now, while we live in enforced isolation? It is driving some people to slight state of madness, those who are not used to it – days and days of your own company?
I think it’s why we see so much crazy, wild behaviour going on – society is being challenged to its limit. It’s really hard on children, who are used to so much socialising especially with their peers, which then makes it doubly hard for their parents. My heart bleeds for them all. It may be a little easier for us older generation, much as we miss seeing our children and grandchildren. We are the wartime generation the generation of subsequent frugal days of living with food and clothes rationing, little entertainment and no internet. There was no instant gratification, no television, no social media. We had music, some of which people created for themselves, books to read and time to enjoy nature and the freedom to enjoy just living and being.
Happy and dreaming
Being an only child from divorced parents, I lived very much inside my own head and I think that’s where my drive to creativity came from. I believe it nurtured my talent. I would spend hours in my bedroom acting for some imaginary audience, making up stories and developing my ability for acting and make-believe.
Dreaming of being an actress?
Out of every bad, comes some good and I know I am not alone in going through another creative drive. The ordinary pressures of day to day life, when we rush about doing this and that, buying this, buying that, going here and going there. It is giving us time to contemplate our lives, make plans to be more productive and useful. If we can resist the constant flow of marketing emails, Tweets, Instagram/ Face Book posts, life can be simple and fun again. I have a few friends who are not on social media, I admire their stand against the temptation to “join in”.
Making movies
I was spending quite a bit of time alone, while in the US before this pandemic and my creative juices were flowing then and although technology is often a frustration and a challenge, it has opened all sorts of new learning opportunities. I wrote a book last year BEING AN ACTOR, a handbook for anyone who wants to be an actor. It gives advice about the opportunities,the thrill, the pitfalls of the profession. I know it’s a useful book for would be actors. I wrote a bit about my own experiences, mistakes made and challenges met.
My book!
“The System” I am an actress!
I have been writing more through this current crisis, reading poetry for online listening by anyone who is interested. Next challenge is to put the audio together with either some existing video or stills… it is strange, but now there never seems to be enough hours in the day to meet all the tasks I have set myself.
Life is sweet!!
