The art of resetting

So far this year I've played a bunch of band gigs, I've written four new full shows (two of which have gone live, the other two have entered rehearsals), I've performed in France, at the Leicester Comedy Festival, a load of house previews, I've written off a car, I've bought a new one (which seems to enjoy flashing a  'check tyre pressure' light whenever it gets cold, even though the tyres are fine, I've had it for four days...), I've watched my film sellout two screenings at a film festival, I've been cast purely as an actor in another film (more on that soon) and I've taught for literally hundreds of hours. 

It's still only March. 

But this is exactly what I wanted to happen this year (apart from the car stuff). Fun, projects, adventure, it's all there. 

But on Monday night, home from another 8 hours of teaching, I just sat on the sofa and paused for a moment.  I was knackered. Aside from the teaching, this week I've decided to give my brain a week off. There's so much to do and my agent is pushing me to promote various shows and is booking in more bits for me, and the band stuff is filling up my diary, but it's been nice to actually just zone out, watch Gladiators, take Freddie dog on extra long walks, actually see Aggie (my wife) for more than half an hour and, when it comes to projects and work, only do the bare minimum. 

But tonight I had dinner with my close friend Josie, as usual she cooked a lovely meal and I supplied a nice bottle of red, we spoke for hours, and as always the conversations drift back to projects (when creatives meet up, that's what happens, yeah?) and when I got home, about half an hour ago, I started jotting down ideas. The spark had returned. Didn't take long, did it?

Sometimes you don't need a holiday, it seems, just three nights off. I think I was probably on the verge of burnout last week. The first reading of 'The Second' on Sunday was a weird one - a cast so up for it, so happy, yet I didn't feel like me, I was just exhausted. 

I'm back now, though. Got a house show in Ely on Saturday, 2 hours of new material. Back on the creative treadmill it is...

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