What is your light?  What is the thing that gets you up in the morning.  Maybe you don’t know.  Or maybe you’re afraid of your light…afraid it might shine too bright and maybe scare others away.  Whatever the case may be,  embrace your light.  If you’re searching and you have been for awhile, don’t give up.  It’s never too late to shine.  You have no idea where those rays will land, who they will influence, and how they can inspire others to embrace their light and shine just as bright.

Read this quote by author Marianne Williamson that sums up my thoughts:

Find more quotes @ spiritualcleansing.org

And don’t think I don’t feel that fear when I sit to write.  Don’t think I don’t ask the questions am I good enough?…am I this?…am I that?  But I do the writing despite all the doubts, the rejection and the constant pressure to produce.   I do it because I will not allow fear to dictate my life.  That and I happen to actually LIKE to write…most days.

I’ve just completed a re-write of my new screenplay LET IT SHINE, about a young girl whose precocious nature sends her on an incredible journey where she plays the narrator.   She tells us a sprawling tale of love, faith and sacrifice that spans years in the life of one family (her’s), the lives she changes and the extraordinary bond she shares with her unpredictable, compassionate older brother who teaches her that in order to stand out, one must not be afraid to shine.    Our narrator is at first a bold, loud little human who doesn’t care what the world thinks of her, until she matures and gradually begins to shy away from the attention she brings to herself.    But as LET IT SHINE plays out, this young lady finds her voice again and the courage to speak up.

Photo by Kate Morel, February 2011, Newgale Beach

Courage.  Sometimes that’s what it takes to step out of our comfort zones.  Writing this screenplay has encouraged me because I didn’t think I could tell a story about a young girl.  But as I developed the story, I  embraced her and where she was taking me.  Writing is a journey.  You never know where it will take you or where you will land.   I’ve entered LET IT SHINE into the  Page International Screenplay Awards.  This competition got over 6500 screenplays this year .  I’ll be competing in the Family Category where there is just under 500 entries.   We’ll see what happens.  I’m eternally optimistic and look forward to sending LET IT SHINE to more places.   I hope my screenplay will inspire those who are reading it.  I hope it shines bright.

Speaking of shining…my play ANIMAL (a story that is completely opposite in tone and feeling to LET IT SHINE) will be performed on a Toronto stage the 3rd week of November.  I recently interviewed directors for ANIMAL  and will soon share who got the job.  Suffice to say, I’m looking forward to digging back into the play.  ANIMAL will be staged by the Alumnae Theatre through their Fireworks Festival – a 3 week festival of full length plays.  As part of Fireworks, each of the playwrights have been assigned a dramaturge (a literary editor who gives advice as to where a script needs improvement/development/cutting/etc, etc.).  I will be meeting my dramaturge this week and we will be discussing where I will take ANIMAL in it’s next draft.   This new draft will be the one that will be staged come this November.

In a couple weeks, I have a production meeting where I will be introduced to some members of the ANIMAL team.  And come the first week of September, auditions will be held at the Alumnae Theatre.   But first, rewrites, and more updates to come throughout the summer as I work on ANIMAL – a play that sheds some much needed light on the intricacies  of mental illness, the ugly toll it takes  on individuals who suffer with it and family members who are trying to help.