GOTTA GET UP, GET OUT, GET HOME BEFORE THE WORLD ENDS

Some mornings are more tired than others. Some days are more cranky. Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, a long way from home. Right now, I feel a bit meh. A bit like where is the inspiration, the weird dream from the night before, the outrage at the latest bit of tomfoolery or outright psychosis coming from the White House? I don't know. The usual suspects who guide me each morning are all sleeping in, it seems. Still, I write. I don't feel like there is a choice, really, no this. I've been doing this each day for what seems like forever. It has become a ritual, an obligation, a way of coping. And I don't intend to stop anytime soon. But there are days that feel more inspired. Still, move forward. That's the only choice. Ever. I write all the time, and often I hit a point where I think nothing is happening, that the work is garbage and useless, that I will never make anything good out of what I'm working on. But I keep writing, and am never sorry I do. Sometimes, it just needs a little kickstart. Sometimes, it just needs to be done. Sometimes what I write sucks so bad it's amazing. But it still has to be written. To be exorcised. I teach writing these days, and I often tell my students that the one piece of advice that is always correct is to keep writing. It's always worked for me. So here I am, baggy eyed, coffee brewing, dog laying next to me, sleeping away.

Yesterday I called a bunch of folks. My governor, my mayor, my representative, and my senators. I asked them all to please do more for the average working person. To keep up the good fight, or to get into the good fight if they've been slack in that arena. (Looking at you Senator Gardner). I asked them to figure out a way to make it mandatory to wear a mask in a store. To do what they can to help people financially. To get more testing done. Seemed like time to do that. So often it feels like the structure of our society is set in stone and what will be will be and we have no part in it. But that's a bunch of malarky. We are part of the system, and we can be active or not. I choose active. Supposedly, even in this age of texting and snapchat and Instagram and whatever is next, the most effective tool when trying to make your voice heard by your elected representatives is a phone call. And yesterday was a full day. Teaching speech and debate online in the morning. Zoom meeting with other teachers in the afternoon. Then an acting for film class, and rehearsal with over twenty kids, both on zoom. And somewhere in there had to get some work in on the new screenplay. It is strange how I can feel both overloaded and aimless at once.

Here's the thing, the reason to keep writing, keep calling people, keep doing whatever it is that brings you joy. The world will continue to spin regardless. Civilizations will rise and fall. A show like Tiger King will leap into our national consciousness for a moment and then vanish. Music will be written, laughs will be had, fortunes made and lost. And you can be a part of it. Isn't that amazing? So I write my blog, I work on my screenplay, I call those in charge, I call old friends. Maybe some days feel monotonous and dull. Maybe this all means nothing, and we are just fleas on the backs of giants. Even so. If this is all there is, I want to make the most of it, as best I can. And writing this blog every day helps me do that.

In honor of that, and of Russian Doll, one of the best shows to come out in the past few years in my opinion, here's a song. It's Gotta Get Up by Nilsson.