makes sense.

I just read this in the Harvard Health Letter, December 2010 issue, page six. The quote is from an interview with Shelley Carson, a Harvard psychologist and author of Your Creative Brain.

Q: Can you be happy and creative?

A: Happy and creative, yes. But contentment--it's the enemy of creativity. The creative mind is a hungry mind, a thirsty mind, not a satiated mind. It wants more.

I've suspected this about myself for the last several months, so it's nice to have it confirmed. Even if it's explaining why I've squeezed out a grand total of 3,000 words over the last year. Hmph.

I'm not dumping Phil just to get my writing mojo back, though. I know very well that he'll start to bug me eventually (if he sticks around long enough), and then writing will be my consolation once more.

this started out as a squee and turned into a self-pep talk

Boy, won't you all be happy when this play is over and I shut up about it!

I tested my memory and spent the last five minutes typing out all my lines for all four of my parts (five scenes) that I'll play for the next three performances, just to make sure I've got the words down. No queues, blocking, or gestures; just lines. Then I went to the script and compared it with what I'd typed, and with only a few insignificant exceptions (using "nearly" when the script says "near," for example), I remembered every line I must speak and got them all correct.

I feel better now. I'm still nervous (which is entirely natural) but not as much as I was half an hour ago. It'll be over in five hours no matter what, so it's up to me to determine if I go home happy or in tears. I have everything I need in me: the lines, the blocking, the gestures, voices, facial expressions, songs, and dance moves.

Patrick Stewart used to perform A Christmas Carol as a one-man show, and he did every part from Scrooge to Tiny Tim. I figure all I have to be is a tenth the actor he is to pull off four of the forty-odd parts in Scrooge and Marley.

I can do this! *\o/*