Oh!

 It’s like the world woke up in about 3 days. I made contact with a local venue I’ve been wanting to play and there was actually someone there who answered my message. Suddenly, instead of wondering who I shoulda have made nice with but didn’t, I had been handed two slots to fill or host myself. I actually got to reach out to other writers and invite them to play with me. I’m really not good at self-promotion but that one message that I sent made a big difference. The venue will be nice but not full, since it’s in Pigeon Forge, but both Blesser Heart and I need a Hamburg - a regular gig that isn’t make-or-break so we can get comfortable - as the Beatles did in a beat-down city with zero prestige. Pigeon Forge is no Hamburg but it is far for our fans. Of course the venue might forget my number if we don’t draw but we’ll hang on as long as we can.

And then also … you know how you send out your novel or your songs or your plays and it’ll be a miracle if they get anywhere? Well maybe not for you, but I view pitching etc like planting a packet of seeds where maaaaaybe one will sprout before it dies. But I got an email saying “your play has been selected…” and that was astonishing. 

There’s a Panic!at the Disco song called “High Hopes”- “I gotta have high high hopes for a living…” I do better with low hopes and then being occasionally astonished when I get a nibble. The play thing is helpful because going back to playwriting gave me that old “should I even be doing this” feeling. A big hole where confidence and purpose ought to be. It’s not a prestige production but it’s my first, in some ways. My other productions were “inside jobs” where I knew someone. This time my play was picked by strangers. Nice.