March saw me on the road a bit, which is a good place for me sometimes. I had a couple of days in
Golden with some excellent writing time and few good laughs. I got a progress report on the
Whitetooth Brewery, which should open there this fall. The roof is on, so I hope the rest goes smoothly.
I had an interesting project that took me to
Vancouver for the first time in a couple of years. I was able to use my off-hours to catch up with
three dear friends, all from different parts of my life. The best part is that with all three, it was like no time had passed since we'd last chatted.
I pulled together a road trip to Torrington, AB for 9 friends and myself. We left at noon on Good Friday and got back about 26 hours later, having been thoroughly entertained by the
World Famous Torrington Gopher Hole Museum (which opened especially for us). We also hung out (and stayed at) the Torrington Inn where we had our fill of pickled eggs, pool, and darts while we were entertained by a country singer. Not normally my scene, but when in Torrington...
I expect we'll be retelling some of the stories for years to come. It's good to laugh, and I am blessed to have such excellent sports for friends.
I got to hear a good chunk of my new play
Trail and Error -- a deeply personal story -- read by the talented
April Banigan (directed by
Tracy Carroll). I am always impressed how a good actor can take my words and make them sounds even better than I'd imagined. But when the actor takes not only my words but is ME as a character, well, I was blown away. April rocks, as do the terrific women who put together the
SkirtsAfire Festival and
PeepShow.
In between PeepShow events I got to see 2/3 of the
StageStruck Festival. It was great to see so many friends on stage, back stage, and in the audience. Congratulations to all of them -- I plan to be back with a new play for the 2017 Festival.
One of the things that's been using my time lately is the development of a new
website for my plays. I've been work with two amazing women and we're pretty close to done. I love what they've come up with, as well as the potential for more on the site. What do you think of
Northern Sabbatical Productions now?
NorthernSabbaticalProductions
Last month we talked a bit more about
shame. I was interested to see this article (and three videos) in
How Stuff Works. Apparently shame is an evolutionary tool that helps humans live with each other. (Go figure!) It's a way to keep your behaviour in check so that others will feed you, protect you, and take care of your children.
The researchers talked about the difference between shame (I am bad) versus
guilt (I did something bad). "Shame is an
emotion responsible for the lies we tell, the paranoia and depression we feel, and can sometimes lead to dramatically self-damaging behavior." This is bad, obviously. If you're guilty (and not inclined to blame others), then you can "
own" what you did and correct. But when you feel shame, you turn in on yourself and the results can be damaging and long term.
So based on this, guilt (without blaming others) is the key to moving on. Shame is a downward spiral. For the entire article and some interesting videos,
Click
Let's see if we can get through April without guilt or shame, and with a bunch more grace and kindness -- to ourselves and others.
Finally, it seems there may have been a
mailing glitch last month and some who have always received my e-zine didn't get it. If you're one of those and would like me to resend, just let me know. Thanks!
"Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself."
-- Henry Ward Beecher
"Peak performance begins with your taking complete responsibility for your life and everything that happens to you."
-- Brian Tracy
