Me and Jane Miller

“What about just writing to write.”  A friend of mine recently said that to me (I’m talking about you Liz Best).  We can get so caught up in our creative journeys that we sometimes forget the reason why we began those journeys in the first place.   Yes, of course everyone needs to make a living, we all need money to survive.  These are the realities of life.   Many of us are doing other things to help feed that passion.   But when the thing you love becomes the thing you start to resent, you need to remind yourself of why you began that journey in the first place.   What happened to the passion that made you excited about life and living?

Start there.  What excites you?  What gives you that energy that makes you excel?  Knowing it is hard to find for some people.  But once you discover what that thing is, go out and do it.  But also know that life can be difficult.  There are a lot of faucets that entangle us in our respective journeys.    The passion we once loved becomes the thorn on our side.  I have written of massive discouragement surrounding my writing and how I feel unworthy to write at times.  The doubt, the rejection, the lack of “success” can so easily bleed your passion.

Oprah Winfrey on passion:

This is what I know:  Writing will always be a part of my life.   Even in my darkest moments of doubt and drought, “the words” always wait for me to return.  In my latest screenplay,  A PROMISE I MADE TO MR. BAGELS, it is very much about a writer who has not written in over a year.  And why?  He has a father dying of Alzheimer’s, a mentally deranged mother and a sister who has struck out three times in marriage, is a single mother and has spent a majority of her life taking care of her parents.  As a result, she has dealt with overwhelming pain, and her dysfunction has so torn through her, that she simply cannot care for her mom and dad anymore.  Enter the long lost brother/writer who has returned to his home town to take care of the parents.  Entanglements have entangled this brother and sister and they are the main reason why the writer has lost the will/passion to write.

“I know what I like” – quoting another writer/friend of mine (I’m talking about you Annmarie Morais).  We were talking about the stories we like to watch and tell.  My stories are about characters who are deeply flawed, who fight for balance and hope and journeying on rocky roads with no easy way through.  I love twisted humor – stories that make you cry and laugh at the same time in the midst of searing pain.  Nothing comes easy in a Romeo Ciolfi script.   That’s the way I like it.  I throw a lot of things at the audience; maybe too much sometimes, but these are the stories I love and will always tell.  This is my passion.

Speaking about passion and talking to friends…the lady above, Jane Miller, stop by for a visit recently and took in another passion of mine – gardening.  The conversation  flew by and we jumped from one dizzying topic to the next.  We have not seen each other in person for some time so there was a lot to catch up.  Passion reigns supreme in this creative lady.  And one thing Jane rarely lacks is energy.   She has a big heart and a laugh that matches mine.  She is personable, direct, compassionate and embodies a spirit filled with love.  Good times.  Good vibes.  Just good.

I end with this regarding the passion of gardening:  Gardening is very much like writing…it grows over time after much nurturing.   Whatever your passion, nurture it, be patient with it and above all, embrace the pain that comes with it.   Dig out the nasty weeds that cloud your journey and buckle up for what is likely to be a wildly unpredictable ride.   Peace.