Starting on new Terms
It's obviously a remnant of my school days, but as August slowly changes into the autumnal tones of September, I get the feeling that I'm starting out again.
Even when one was going back to the same school, heading back in September meant the start of a new school year - new form teacher, new classmates, new timetable, new subjects, and often a new way of doing things. That still feels particularly relevant even now. For many of us the summer can be a particularly quiet time of year. if we haven't disappeared to Edinburgh with a new three handed multimedia mime show, or managed to latch onto a long-term television project shooting throughout the summer, we have probably seen quite a bit of our garden/local park/window seat/bedroom (delete as applicable).
Last summer I managed to occupy myself rather astoundingly with three television projects. This year has been considerably quieter and although I am actually filming on something at the moment, the number of days I spent on it have been minimal, and actually won't now finish filming until September.
This means that I've had more than my fair share of August days to fill. It's always easier to be unemployed when the sun is out, and the weather gods seem to know this, in that the weather turned sooner my days became a little emptier. It's hard to enjoy empty days when there is nothing lined up. Mercifully starting work this Thursday, I am fully occupied now until Christmas with a variety of projects in the corporate world, a little bit of audio work, my writing, and hopefully perhaps, the odd days acting.
So have I used my summer break to the best effect?
I certainly managed to clear my desk of emails and actually managed to clear it of a rather old and laggy desktop computer. (Not actually sure if laggy is a word, but given my lack of access to spellcheck on this old desktop, I'm taking the risk that you know what I mean). I am reordering my desk and using this as an excuse to think about starting afresh. I have managed to see a great deal of theatre including a couple of trips away to see friends in shows in far-flung corners of the British Isles. A particularly pleasant weekend was spent in an albeit damp Lake District to watch two evenings of the repertory company at the Theatre by the Lake in Keswick where the fabulous Adam Buchanan is giving two stunning performances.
I would hope that throughout August I have "kept at it". There can be a tendency to shut down, to run away, to pretend that it doesn't really matter that you haven't got any work and something will happen in September. It probably will, but it's more likely to happen if you've managed to pave the way for it during the long days of summer.
In early July my diary began to show me lots of holes or windows. Yes, I felt low and despondent at the prospect of empty time, but I then spent two days sat at my desk contacting a whole lot of people to make something happen. And it has. But of course it doesn't happen immediately, so I've still had a lazy summer to get through. Now the work is kicking back in, and my autumn will be filled with lots of travel, and mercifully, enough different projects to keep me busy and occupied.
It's that thing of always having to think ahead. The freelancer's nightmare. It's no good waiting to deal with your unemployment until the Monday when you find that you are waking up without a job. You have to start dealing with it ten days before finishing the previous job if you want a sense of continuity in your working life. You wouldn't start a job without preparation, so why would you start a period of unemployment, which is part of your job anyway, without knowing exactly how you're going to use it to its best.
So I'm glad to have been able to enjoy the summer - days out, long sunlit evenings, and some summer lie ins, but I'm even happier that autumn is approaching with a busy diary to keep me occupied.
Even when one was going back to the same school, heading back in September meant the start of a new school year - new form teacher, new classmates, new timetable, new subjects, and often a new way of doing things. That still feels particularly relevant even now. For many of us the summer can be a particularly quiet time of year. if we haven't disappeared to Edinburgh with a new three handed multimedia mime show, or managed to latch onto a long-term television project shooting throughout the summer, we have probably seen quite a bit of our garden/local park/window seat/bedroom (delete as applicable).
Last summer I managed to occupy myself rather astoundingly with three television projects. This year has been considerably quieter and although I am actually filming on something at the moment, the number of days I spent on it have been minimal, and actually won't now finish filming until September.
This means that I've had more than my fair share of August days to fill. It's always easier to be unemployed when the sun is out, and the weather gods seem to know this, in that the weather turned sooner my days became a little emptier. It's hard to enjoy empty days when there is nothing lined up. Mercifully starting work this Thursday, I am fully occupied now until Christmas with a variety of projects in the corporate world, a little bit of audio work, my writing, and hopefully perhaps, the odd days acting.
So have I used my summer break to the best effect?
I certainly managed to clear my desk of emails and actually managed to clear it of a rather old and laggy desktop computer. (Not actually sure if laggy is a word, but given my lack of access to spellcheck on this old desktop, I'm taking the risk that you know what I mean). I am reordering my desk and using this as an excuse to think about starting afresh. I have managed to see a great deal of theatre including a couple of trips away to see friends in shows in far-flung corners of the British Isles. A particularly pleasant weekend was spent in an albeit damp Lake District to watch two evenings of the repertory company at the Theatre by the Lake in Keswick where the fabulous Adam Buchanan is giving two stunning performances.
I would hope that throughout August I have "kept at it". There can be a tendency to shut down, to run away, to pretend that it doesn't really matter that you haven't got any work and something will happen in September. It probably will, but it's more likely to happen if you've managed to pave the way for it during the long days of summer.
In early July my diary began to show me lots of holes or windows. Yes, I felt low and despondent at the prospect of empty time, but I then spent two days sat at my desk contacting a whole lot of people to make something happen. And it has. But of course it doesn't happen immediately, so I've still had a lazy summer to get through. Now the work is kicking back in, and my autumn will be filled with lots of travel, and mercifully, enough different projects to keep me busy and occupied.
It's that thing of always having to think ahead. The freelancer's nightmare. It's no good waiting to deal with your unemployment until the Monday when you find that you are waking up without a job. You have to start dealing with it ten days before finishing the previous job if you want a sense of continuity in your working life. You wouldn't start a job without preparation, so why would you start a period of unemployment, which is part of your job anyway, without knowing exactly how you're going to use it to its best.
So I'm glad to have been able to enjoy the summer - days out, long sunlit evenings, and some summer lie ins, but I'm even happier that autumn is approaching with a busy diary to keep me occupied.
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