It was my birthday last week, and I didn’t have any big celebrations or lots of presents, as I was on tour and prepping for a couple of important auditions. However, I did give pause for thought about what has happened this year and to give myself a little pat on the back for the journey I have taken. I started the year with some pretty difficult things happening and it is easy to let negatives overpower our memories, so, here is an appreciation of what I am grateful for. I do admit to some self-indulgence as I remember some amazing times 🙂
Most notably, I had the best 6 weeks of my life in LA last summer. We even went to Vegas for less than $100 and spotted aliens in Area 51 (or pretty crazy people), and weathered temperatures of over 50 degrees Celsius in the Nevada desert! I know it is cliche but I felt so healthy in LA – you spend all your time outdoors and there are mountains and beaches; you really do hike, cycle and play beach ball in LA! This is where I really learnt how important it is to be yourself and strive for personal happiness; and how that can bring good things to you and people around you. I made some friends, who I hope to always be in touch with and, to top it off, I got to do acting, singing, hiking, dancing etc etc for 6 weeks solid. It was fantastic to be immersed in the middle of Hollywood, in a beautiful artistic apartment. I drenched myself fully in a new world, with a whole load of other wildly optimistic fresh-faced actors! Here are some memories, in the form of lots of photographs…..
I have also fully embarked on the actors life, which involves being all over the place, including: 1week and a few more days in London; 1 month driving all over the South West; 3 months in Bedfordshire; 2 weeks in Winchester; time in Huddersfield:
And in more leisurely style: 2weeks in rural Britanny where my parents have recently purchased this nice little cottage. When we were there we posed for a lot of photos doing physical things like running and cycling and pretended that it was sunny by lying on a beach (it was actually sunny, for approximately 30 seconds, I was freezing and wearing inappropriate clothing – but the exhibitionist in me couldn’t resist):
I purchased one house (well half of one actually) and got to live with there with my friends for a little while (and inherited a sofa):
Lost 2 jobs – one day I may Vlog/Blog about this a little more, when I can do it without sounding bitter, whiney or entitled.
I embarked on a lot of actor training and went to a number of auditions.
I worked for: Concept2Reality and Plexus, both assessing funding applications for innovation companies; Performance in Education on a  Theatre in Education tour; Eva long Productions on Puss in Boots the pantomime; House of Bernarda Alba at the Egg, Theatre Royal Bath; Michael Dunbar Productions on The Long Autumn Months, and a couple more (less memorable) short films:
I Project managed 1 Tedx event: TEDxBristol
I read and recorded some poetry by renowned female poets, including Edna St Vincent Millay (see my youtube channel for more). I cared a lot about: feminism, support for the arts, mental health, eating disorders and climate change. I hope to spend more time developing ways to concentrate on these passions in my work.
TV shows I watched and liked: House of Cards, Orange is the New Black , The Mentalist, Game of Thrones, Homeland, 8 out of 10 cats.
I was very very lucky to see Chicago at the Hollywood Bowl, went to the Groundlings, saw the Wier, Book of Mormon, Wicked, Cats and some amazing up and coming theatre, in particular, Hepzibah Theatre company.
I read some good books, and particularly enjoyed Gone Girl by Gillian Fynn and Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan (I always love Ian McEwan books, you never really know what you are going to get, apart from very real and damaged characters). I discovered some good Blogs and Vlogs, that resonated with me.
…….and in aid of Cancer Research took one no make-up selfie:Â 
Oh yeah, and I had the BEST year of my life 🙂
