Thursday, November 01, 2007

Life/Fantasy

There's a caustic simplicity to sitting in bed at 11:12 on a Thursday morning, sipping coffee, listening to music and preparing to write.

This was my life from early 2005-mid 2006.

Yes, I longed for a more tangible experience. I wanted to see what I wrote exist in reality, not just the "perhaps one day" life/fantasy that a freelance writer lives.

So I pushed, took meetings, got a job, yada yada yada. Yes, writing and directing has a certain dignified satisfaction, but seriously...there's more out there then *GASP*...internet content. I know that my friends both envy me and laugh at me.

A nice 50/50 split of:
"Wow! He gets to write and direct! I wish I was doing that"
"Wow! He gets to write and direct crap! What a loser!"

So, right now, it's nice. I'm alone at 11:17, sipping coffee, lying in bed, listening to music, preparing to write. I've got about 10k in the bank, and I'm wondering if it's time to whittle that savings down to a nub. Nubby nubby nub.

But, I'm scared...if I take off, can I go back? Will there be anything left for me? I know I could probably write 2 solid scripts in 6 months time...but when that's done? Who's reading them? The magical life/fantasy is a wondrous reverie, but is it a tangible reality?

Well, I've lived the last 26+ years fantasizing about things:

When I was 5, I was a Transformer
When I was 9, I was Spiderman marrying the Black Cat
When I was 11, I was an all-star baseball player
When I was 15, I was a rock star
When I was...well, actually I still want to be a rock star and occasionally have little daydreams about it (what else is a shower for...seriously?)
But, it went from rock star to photographer to, yes, FILMMAKER!

Still wracking my brains trying to remember if "Internet Content Creator" is in there anywhere. Probably not.

So, yeah, I'll go back to my rock n roll fantasy and live my Internet reality. But there's going to be a time soon when I'll be in my bed at 11:24 writing something I care about.

It's just a fantasy now.

1 comment:

Henson Ray said...

Hey, you're not alone. Your story is probably more common than you realize. But from this post, it's obvious you're a good writer. So just keep writing. Even if it's just the "three pages" a day they suggest in "The Artist's Way." it all helps. Never give up your dreams, even if that dream is to become a Transformer. Whose to say it couldn't happen? Maybe not in the way you expect, but life is full of possibilities.

www.ithappenedinplainfield.com