Emotional support alligator
Will he listen to me talk about setting goals and boundaries? / Issue 1,105
Oh, hi friends!
I’m heading back to my musical theater workshop in a couple weeks (in person, yay!). And while my energy dipped last year and I didn’t bring in much to share, one of our moderators, Adam, sent around a census to fill out before classes resume…
One of the questions was: What are your goals for the workshop this year?
I thought, Wow. What a novel thing to think about!
Honestly, I was probably going to show up, hang out with friends, learn and take notes, maybe present a song or two.
But now here’s a clear and definitive question that leads to more questions: What do I want to get out of this? Why am I showing up? What do I want to create?
And while I’m still figuring that out, it feels good to be asking the question.
As we sit together in this hazy late-August space, you don’t have to have the answers either.
But it might help to ask the question.
What are your goals for [insert your own thing here] this year?
You don’t have to show up just because you think you should.
And you don’t have to keep thinking like you did in 2021 or 2020 or before.
What do you actually want to get out of this?
Will this client lead to more of the kind of work you want to do or more of the kind of work you don’t want to do?
Such a good and clarifying question to ask before moving forward.
From Josh Spector’s quick and clear article on how to decide if a client is a good fit for you.
Meet WallyGator, a 7-year-old, 5½-foot emotional support alligator.
A video of him playing in a Philadelphia park went viral and the media has responded accordingly with this profile.
Did you know alligators can live up to 80 years in captivity? WallyGator’s owner Joie typically cares for rescue reptiles before they head off to zoos or sanctuaries, but he bonded with this friendly alligator and decided to keep him. WallyGator helped ease his depression after losing family members and provided comfort during a cancer diagnosis. I love when a seemingly silly story turns poignant!
Btw, WallyGator loves cheesy popcorn and visits retirement communities to cheer up the seniors.
This is now a WallyGator fan newsletter.
(Thanks to Colin for sending this to me, because of course he did.)
Hahaha I love that it was Colin that sent it. Btw when you’re ready to start the official Colin Fan Club lemme know and I’ll send my subscription. The photocopied at home fanzine could have pictures of cute animals, luminaries in theatre, and then a “did Colin recognize this celebrity or not?” quiz (the answer to each will be “no”).
I love that you’re back in the workshop. I have zero drive to ever write for musicals but have always loved following along with your journey, the way it lights you up is such a pleasure to read about.
And thanks for the great question! I am going to use this as an excuse to declare mine publicly:
My goals for the final half of this year:
~ to at least make a good start on getting a proper system in place to get new work (vs. my career-so-far system of just hoping something turns up before my money for the month runs out)
~ to finally understand that, when I go on YouTube or Facebook or Instagram at night “just for a minute” it is never just for a minute (but zoning out with intention is totally fine!)
~ to do a better job of celebrating what I DID get done vs. beating myself up for what I didn’t. New mantra: “you’ve got this!”
Thanks!!