saying au revoir to Facebook

I have decided to withdraw from Facebook; not entirely, as I enjoy being part of the extended Swanwick family and will continue posting there from time to time. The difficulty I have is that although Facebook can be  wonderful, it can also be overwhelming.

There have been occasions in the past two or three years when I’ve reached out, using Facebook, and been given so much help and support it’s been amazing but now things have changed. It’s time I looked for ‘real’ people. I’m one of those annoying old-fashioned types who would much rather have a natter than have to type a conversation, which to me, feels like work. Also words on paper are inflexible. They lack dimension, tone, and often meanings can be lost so for now, I’m stepping away. I hope people understand.

At the moment I’m not doing much in the way of work. I have run into a major problem which has been draining my emotional energy. I don’t want to go into details here  as it’s complicated and involves other people, six of whom are children. I’m typing this wondering why I became involved. Why I find it hard to say no when people need help. Why I can’t be just a tiny bit harder. Why I still can’t put me first. After all, this big problem I’ve been sucked into is not of my making.  I desperately need to talk to somebody about it so I’ve decided to  book a session with a new counsellor.

The first session with the new performance group at Good Neighbours went better than I’d hoped. People seemed to like my panto and there were lots of positive ideas and comments flowing. The man in charge is lovely too. Perfect for the job, IMO. Shame he has no directing experience but he seems to know how to handle people which is half the battle. We’ll muddle through somehow. One developments  I was NOT expecting though – I’ve been cast as Buttons who has the biggest part. I’m, hopeless at learning lines, even lines I wrote myself so I came up with the idea that we play up our amateur status by having our lines on set. That will take the pressure off everyone plus we can milk it for more laughs. At least that’s the plan.

Next week, I start learning the ukulele!

I’m booked on a retreat at Weetwood Hall at the end of the month with the wonderful, Kate Walker.  I can’t express how much I’m looking forward to it. If that doesn’t kick start my writing again, nothing will. Meanwhile, I’ll carry on recirculating stories to different markets to keep the numbers up while I wait for my mojo to come crawling back.  Meanwhile, I’d like to say a huge thank you to all the people who helped me, via Facebook, in the past. It meant a lot to me.