April 12, 2021

Yesterday was tough. Owed a bunch of money in taxes. (How does this always happen? I put the lowest number on deductibles and put money pre-tax into retirement. And still!) Then, when my husband and I tried to plan our Scotland/Norway trip that got pushed from last year, we found out that the airline we have credit on doesn't do flights to/from the US anymore. So I'm not sure what's going to happen there. Maybe we'll just lose that money, which would suck. 

We're trying to decide whether to push it to August 2022. Presumably the Edinburgh Fringe would be more back to normal by then, which would be a plus, as it's the reason I want to go in the first place. But I'm itchy to travel and to be thinking/expecting this trip for two full years makes me more itchy. Erghhh. 

Change of topic: part of the Adam Buxton interview with British Olympic figures skaters Torvill and Dean has stuck with me over the past couple of months. Adam asked the skating couple if they were especially good when they were starting out. If a coach or mentor realized what potential they had and snatched them out of oblivion. They said that they weren't particularly good. Good enough to keep advancing through lessons but not obviously better or more talented than their peers. They said what made the difference was that they both took skating as seriously as the other. They were both committed to making the routines perfect, the timing perfect. 

I think that's really great. I'm reminded of an undergrad we had in the lab. She took it really seriously. She came in early; she talked to her mentor all the time. She rehearsed her poster presentations in the conference room. She practiced. She showed up to lab and it was like her mind was locked in to what she needed to do. She published a paper before she graduated and got into MIT for grad school. Of course she was smart -- just like Torvill and Dean must've had some natural talent for ice skating -- but I'm interested in that other thing. Whatever it is that allows a person to set their mind on something. To take it seriously. To be caught up in the pull of the thing and to serve it. 

What does that look like for writing (screenwriting, podcasting, filmmaking, etc.)? I have ideas of reading and analyzing a screenplay every week -- it would be great to do that with a group of people and have a discussion, like a non-science version of a journal club. Watch movies and MLog about them. :) Write everyday. Keep working on projects. Go to festivals or conferences where possible. The networking is also probably something... It's tough because all these ideas are coming from me, which means I've probably already implemented them (or tried to... I could read more scripts). Become Torvill and Dean!