Taking The Plunge

 Hello Everyone, I hope you're all well and things seem to be relatively steady, I think we've all had enough 'drama' for a while, don't you think? I know there is a great deal happening in the world, political elections, conflicts etc but hopefully, even though there are countless reasons to be anxious, we can all try and find some positives. Also, before I begin, this will not be a post about Taylor Swift, which might be unpopular as the news seems dominated by her tour. Obviously, I wish her every possible success and quite frankly, she is unquestionably making millions of people happy and so whether or not you enjoy her music, there's a lot to be said for someone who can bring so much joy. I am more than happy to say, I have many of her songs on my Spotify playlists- I don't know if that makes me an official 'Swiftie' just yet!

Anyway, my post today is about stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something new, which is how my life has been over these past months. Aside from writing my first novella 'After The Rain', I have also been writing scripts for both stage and screen. This has been an incredibly daunting journey, as the formatting alone is far from easy aside from trying to adopt a 'new' way of writing a story. I just thought perhaps it was time to give myself a new challenge and, that aim has definitely been achieved! Now, it could all end in disaster, after all, scriptwriting is a skill and whether or not I can write one is debatable, but far worse, is not to try at all. I am happy to report, after many false starts, scripts have been written now and are currently being considered within the industry, so we will see what happens next.

Also, I have written a novella based on one, 'By This Hand', which was even harder than I'd originally envisaged and was yet another steep learning curve. But if you don't push yourself, in whatever field you might be in, there's the risk of becoming complacent and so I feel it's on all of us to keep trying new things. Being 'safe' is generally a good idea but not when it comes to the creative process, at least, that's what I think.

But taking the plunge is obviously not restricted to writing, there are so many aspects in life that it should be attempted and actively encouraged. As I'm sure I must have said before, we only have one life, so in every way possible, we should be pushing to make it as interesting and diverse as we can. As an example, I've read about several people who have left their old lives behind, bought a van and started travelling the world. Now, I appreciate, this is not feasible for many of us, but I can see the appeal, can't you? But even if taking such a drastic step can't be done, there are a myriad of other ways we can challenge ourselves. We are very fortunate that adult education is pretty accessible, so perhaps if there might be something that might appeal to you- learning how to play an instrument, baking or even more academic subjects. It would be daunting to walk into a classroom again but only for the first time, that's the point to remember.

I was once told, the one thing that keeps people from doing things is fear, primarily the fear of failing and so the temptation is not to take the risk. After all, if we don't try, we cannot fail! I suppose there is a degree of comfort in feeling that way but, on the other hand, there is no guarantee, we won't succeed. It could be, we walk into that classroom and ace every test, or bake the perfect cake or it turns out, we are a piano virtuoso. How will we know, if we never try! Also, the plain fact cannot be ignored, that despite our best efforts, we all fail some of the time. I don't think there's a person alive who can truthfully claim that everything they've ever done has been a towering success, it's just part of life, sometimes it does all go wrong. But we do learn from those moments, we see the mistakes and try not to make them again, so even the most embarrassing times have their benefits.

Finally, I think it's worth remembering, our time on earth is not limitless, we only have a certain number of years to be here and make our mark. Speaking personally, I don't want to reach the end of my life and think 'I wish I had...'- even if more has gone wrong than has worked, I'd rather be able to say 'that was one helluva trip.'

I hope you all find something that will make you think 'why not?' and if you do, don't allow anyone to sow seeds of doubt, you take that plunge!

Anyway, I hope I've given you some food for thought, thank you for all your support and until next time...

Take care ot there xxx