The theme for me this week was inspired by a simple instagram photo I had seen which said ‘she created the life she wanted to live’.
It was a manic week as I prepped for the shoot of season 2 of Feathers and Toast. We were shooting 8 episodes in one day with another mime artist, a French cancan dancer, another actress, a child and a temperamental cat. Complete with borrowed feathered hats from a local milliner. Ingredients for 8 episodes of a cooking show as well as craft services for breakfast and lunch for a crew of 10…suffice to say my days were filled to the brim with rehearsals, production logistics and a massive amount of feather buying.
The beads have given me a framework on which to hang my life. Beginning each day reminding myself what my values are and what I want to live out in the day means that my intentions are swimming nearer the surface than they might be otherwise. When moments of overwhelming-ness come I’m somewhat able to take a breath and recalibrate. At one point I was sweltering downtown dashing to find a party supply store to buy gift bags and fill them with feathers and chocolate to say thank you to everyone involved with the shoot. I caught sight of my sweating self in a mirror in one of the filled to the brim feathered stores and wondered what I was doing searching for the perfect bags to fill for people. And then I thought no, this is how I want to run my show. ‘She created the life she wanted to live’ and this is how I want to live; with attention to detail, with gratitude for peoples time and with a serious sense of style. For me beauty is important and is reflected in the details in the show and needed to be reflected in my gifts. So I spent time comparing the best gift bags and the best feathers and that darling was that.
Another highlight of the week was walking to producer Holly’s on Monday evening and chancing upon being at the sidewalk waiting to cross when the sunset was at its most vibrant best. I turned to a valet guy standing nearby and commented on the sky. There’s something about a sunset that is life affirming and makes me want to share it with someone. On Friday night I was returning home after rehearsing at Holly’s all evening and was slightly apprehensive about the shoot the following day. In the night sky a perfect crescent moon hung among the stars. Passing the valet, I commented on the moon. He said that he remembered me from the other night and thanked me for taking the time to talk. As I walked down the street he shouted after me: “I liked that, the other night, when you talked about the sky.”
I remember someone telling me once how he could fall in love with someone by watching how passionately they are wrapped up in an activity. I know what he means; it’s mesmerizing to watch someone completely caught up with doing something they clearly love. So much of life can be lived in a panic, out of fear or simply a series of reactions to events that seem to happen to you throughout the day. I want to live differently, to live passionately and for me that means with attention to detail. Like the feathered gift bags, beauty for me is in the considered detail, whether that’s a present or a conversation with a stranger as the sky becomes a Cheshire cat striped canvas.
