I'm Back (In More Ways Than One)

I haven’t forgotten about this blog, but it seems that life continually gets in the way. At the start of this year, my job that I thought had been so promising turned into a constant trial in frustration. This resulted in most days dreading the drive to work for what awaited me and saw most nights void of any energy or desire to do anything constructive. Without going into detail, it was not a job that fit who I am, so I decided that it was time for me to move on. That was back at the beginning of May and I have been at my new job for approximately three and a half months .I am still learning, but it is a better fit for who I am, although a bit of a step back from the role at my last job, and I work with a great group of people.
It has made me question whether I am in the right career for me though. Sometimes I enjoy the work of being an accountant but most times it just feels like after almost twenty years of doing the same type of work, it is time for me to move on to something new. I have told myself that I should give it an honest effort for at least a year so I can make sure I am making an informed decision. At the same time, I have finally got my life on track and am journaling all the things I want to accomplish and how my daily progress is going. I feel like I am on the track to accomplishing great things this year. I am eating better, exercising regularly and am finally back to doing more writing.
Part of my plan will be to try to do some freelance writing and work on my playwriting and photography. I am taking a writing course through the University of Wisconsin and start classes on Saturday to finally achieve my accounting designation. I also have some long-term goals and plans starting to take shape including a few part-time business prospects on the distant horizon.
It looks like I am going to be really busy for the foreseeable future and I am excited about it, I haven’t felt this optimistic about life in quite awhile and I love it.
Take care all and remember to make a plan to achieve your goals and dreams.

What must one do, in order to grow? Francis Mayes – Under The Tuscan Sun

History Made - #30 Write A Play

Ever since I rediscovered my love of writing a few years ago, this has been in the back of my mind. Since we moved back to the city a couple years ago. and bought season subscriptions the last two years for The Globe Theatre, it has been pushing to the forefront of things I want to accomplish. Then, about a month ago, I heard about the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre’s 24 Hour Playwriting Competition.

What better opportunity to force myself to write a play than to sign up for a competition where you have to actually show up and write alongside 25 other playwrights and wannabes (like me). I figured it would force me work on a play and allow me to interact with some creative minds.

So last Friday at 3 in the afternoon, I headed over to the University and at 4 I started writing my first play. I started with a few ideas scratched out on a piece of paper before hand and that formed the basis for what would eventually become my first play.

You may think that 24 hours is a long time to be sitting in front of a computer, but I can tell you that the time went really quickly. The night before the competition I did not sleep very well so I was concerned about my ability to stay awake and focused long enough to get a play written. But once I sat down at the computer, the time flew by and before I knew it more than 12 hours had gone by and I had more than 8,000 words filling 35 pages. My first draft was complete!

I headed home for a bit of rest and climbed into my bed right around 5 AM. After a quick sleep, I was up by 8:30 and headed back over to the university by shortly after 9. By the time I was back at it, I had just over 6 hours remaining to put some polish on my play. It took me several hours to reread my creation three times and take some of the rough edges off of it. By 2:30, Apocalypse, Saskatchewan was completed and submitted as an official entry in the competition.

It feels great to have been able to check another item off my list. It also feels great to be able to have taken an idea I had in my head, start to get it out in written form and come away with a completed story. I find that the more often I write and come away with a finished work, the more I want to write and create in this way. It also is so stimulating to be around so many creative people. Throughout my experience I heard so many bits and pieces of plays that were so different from what I was writing. Hearing about plays that are heavy on sex, gunfights, or mythical creatures (kind of makes my play set in a small town coffee shop seem boring) were just some of the storylines that I heard.

The winning plays were announced at an awards brunch this morning (Sunday), however I had to miss it as after I got home from the competition yesterday my wife and I headed out on the road as we are on holidays this week. Now, I didn’t enter the competition with the thought that I would write the best play in the competition (I know, this is the mantra of the loser, but it’s true, honestly) I just wanted the push to actually get a play written. So imagine my very pleasant surprise this afternoon when just as we were driving into the mountains I got an email informing me that my play had won honorable mention!

Of course, I am very pleasantly shocked by the fact my play won a prize, but most of all, I can honestly say that this success has encouraged me to continue to pursue this hobby.

Although it is a bit of a stretch, from now on, I am going to introduce myself as Dion Huel, award-winning playwright.

Dreams Versus Goals

It has been three months since I last posted here and I really don’t have much of an excuse. It has been a trying start to 2011 for me and that has seemed to zap my energy for doing anything when I get home from work. When I say trying, it is nothing overly serious but just the usual weekday crap that dulls a person’s usual zest for life. But, I am happy to report that I have come up with a plan and an ultimate goal at the end that will help me to check off a few things from my list in the process. I am really excited because this is probably the first time in my life that I can honestly say that I have a plan for my career (beyond schooling) and am not just relying on fate to push me where it may (I guess you could say that fate has been my career planner up to now.) This is all I should say about this for now, but just know that I am excited because I have a plan of attack to accomplish some of my long-term career goals.

This has got me thinking about so many of the dreams I have had for my life. So rarely for me have these dreams ever turned into goals. I think this happens for a lot of people. For example, we want to write a book so maybe we talk about starting it this weekend coming up but then get busy. Or we actually start and then lose energy or interest after a couple of hours and we have an unwritten masterpiece on our computer until the day comes when the computer crashes along with our dreams of writing a book. What we need to do is map out our route for success. I have done this with my own dreams of having a book published and have set aside time every week to work on my creative writing. I started this back in December and although I have not written every week, I am staying on track pretty loosely and have even entered several of my short stories in writing contests (no news back on any success but I am always hopeful.

From now on, I want to be a person striving to achieve goals, not just a dreamer (I will always be a dreamer and I don’t think there is anything wrong with this, but honestly I don’t think I can come up with a goal of winning the lottery). When I wrote my bucket list towards the end of last year, I also wrote out what I needed to do to achieve each and every goal on the list. I haven’t actively worked on every thing but I plan on revisiting the list this weekend and coming up with a true plan to achieve everything on there. It is what I have done with my long-term career goals and my writing and what I need to do to accomplish everything on my list. It is time for fate to get out of the driver’s seat and come along for the ride with me at the wheel.

How are your goals coming along? Like me do you need to revisit your map every once in awhile to make sure you are still on the right path?

On a similar side-note, I am within a month of completing #30 on my list, Write a Play. I am excited, and somewhat horrified that I have signed up for the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre’s 24 Hour Playwriting Competition. Now, I enjoy writing, but I have always hated putting myself out there in front of people when I am doing something that I am unsure of the outcome. By unsure of the outcome, I mean, I don’t know if I am any good at. I know I can put words down on a piece of paper but I am not convinced that the words are really all that interesting.

Anyway, no turning back now and Wednesday I am off to a clinic they are putting on to teach those of us new to the world of playwriting exactly how to go about it. I definitely need this one.

I’ll keep you updated!

Fearlessly release habits, patterns and situations that no longer work

I am finally back to my blog after being forced away for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, the hard drive on my laptop crashed out and it took me until after Christmas to get it back up and running. So, after a long hiatus, I am back at it.

The title of this post is, "fearlessly release habits, patterns and situations that no longer work." I am not a huge reader, or believer, in horoscopes but happened to read my horoscope for 2011 in last week's paper. According to my horoscope, this is supposed to be my theme for the year. Sounds good to me!

Really, this is partially what my list is all about. I am not 100% happy with what my life is like right now and I know that it will not change without making a series of changes in the ways that I live my life. I have begun this transformation by making a list of the things I want to do and mapping out the steps I need to do to accomplish these things.

And another important step to anyone for me is my theme for the year, fearlessly release habits, patterns and situations that no longer work. It sounds simple but this is probably one of the hardest things to do… change. But as Einstein said, "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

And so, this is the year that I will be breaking the mould on all my poor habits. And in the process my goal for the year is to check a minimum of 20 things off my list. This will get me part of the way towards checking 40 items off by the time I am 40.

Happy new year to everyone and best wishes for 2011!