Paint Yourself Into A Corner
Happy New Year!
Yeesh, I feel like these sets of 365 days just move faster and faster … #Aging However, it never diminishes the little tingle of delight of anticipation of this blank slate, this new chapter that hasn’t been written yet and how fantastic it could be.
Resolutions? Oy. Nope. I got nothin’. My Gram used to say “I can’t be bothered.” Well, I can’t be bothered making statements for or against resolutions. And I can’t be bothered sharing about whether or not I’ll be (attempting to!) making any resolutions. (Cue: “I resolve not to be so stupid …” Bonus points if you can name that song and the show it’s from!) I can’t be bothered.
But I DO want to encourage you to paint yourself into a corner this year.
Paint yourself into a corner.
Years ago I ran a performing arts studio and the floor was concrete. The overall colour scheme of the studio was purple - light on the walls, with darker coloured polka dots everywhere. It was pretty damn cool. And we painted the floor a dark purple.
But, as you can imagine, as each semester progressed, the floor would get chipped and scuffed. So as part of my routine, I would repaint the floor at the end of every semester. Those were the days of the classic iPod. I would lock the doors, crank up whatever music I was obsessed with at the time and get to work, starting at one end of the studio and working my way toward the door.
Well, then came the day that I guess the music I was listening to was too awesome and instead of painting my way out the door of one of the teaching rooms, I literally painted myself into a corner, furthest from the door. Yup. Actually. I remember laughing in disbelief that I had done such a hilariously dumb thing. And then I remember realizing how slippery wet paint was to walk on. (I don’t recommend it for your daily living!) I painted myself into a corner.
Well, I told you that story to tell you this one.
When I was writing my first musical, I remember getting about 35%/40% of the writing completed when I realized that I did NOT want to be one of those people who’d been working on the same piece for years and years but never actually completed it.
We all know that person right? The half finished quilt or painting or the novel that they’ve been writing for years and years. Heck, maybe that person is you? I digress.
So, I painted myself into a corner.
I called the manager of a venue I loved to use and I booked it for rehearsals and a staged reading of my musical … that I hadn’t finished writing.
I remember looking at the dates and then picking a date two weeks before the first rehearsal and deciding that that was my writing ‘cut off’ date. I didn’t want to be making drastic changes once the actors were involved. I was determined to ‘freeze’ the show at that point.
And it was scary. Very scary. But I just pushed through. I had a countdown app on my phone that would remind me every day how many days I had left and I powered through.
Sometimes the panic overwhelm was super intense, as I never had a crystal clear idea of the piece in its entirety. It only seemed to come in bits and pieces. But I KNEW I had booked that venue and I KNEW I couldn’t afford to say: “Just kidding!” And cancel the booking because it was super pricey.
The last song I wrote was the opening number of the show. I had originally written a different song for the opening but it was long and clunky and as I recorded the demo, I found myself exhausted and bored just recording it! The night before my final deadline, I finished the new opening number and literally collapsed with relief.
So … how can you paint yourself into a corner this year?
What do you want to achieve? Accomplish? Add?
What’s a way you can paint yourself into a corner that will force yourself to make it happen?
The panic will inevitably show up, the fears will be palpable, the moments of ‘what the heck have I done?’ Will be real.
But the satisfaction of being able to say: “I did it!! I got it done!” Is so, so sweet.
I’m Marion Abbott and I’ve painted myself into a corner. Multiple times.