The good news

Coming towards the end of the year, though it has been possibly the most stressful of my life, I’ve used this entry to relate all the good things that happened this year.
I have also, on balance, probably created more as well than in any previous year. I have six pictures, four of which have been accepted by a gallery, and await a bite from a customer. I have written more articles than usual, two waiting to be published in a new magazine which will (if ever happens) bring my writing to a wider audience. The new digital camera has produced some amazing results, a few which will be blown up and put on the wall. The TV filming was the best thing that could ever happen besides sex and enlightenment, and one with the possibility to open up every aspect of my career and possibly as a result my social life.
I met Nick Roach properly for the first time, as well as being thanked in public for all my help during his session.
I saw my friends who went abroad for the first time in over three years, and have started to meet a few new ones though far from regulars yet. I also met (twice already!) one of my favourite comedians of all time, Harry Hill, and he is also an incredibly nice guy, inviting me to the film set and spending time talking when he could have been working.
My grandma’s treatment for the kidney tumour finally seems to be over and a success, and she’s more or less back to her usual self at 95. After waiting to find someone to fit a new kitchen for over two years I’ve finally found someone who’s booked to do it next month. And of course finding I’m now getting an average of over 60 hits a day here.

That was the productive side of 2005, and the second part is the possibilities that may lie ahead, though I have been instructed, quite rightly, to not get attached to them as they’re both unformed and out of my control. But as it’s almost Christmas I’ll list them as seeds of good news, and see next year how many, if any, flower.

If and when the TV programme is shown, anything and everything could result. More TV work, more therapy clients, articles commissioned, and even meeting new people as a result. Being a therapist is one of the few areas you can’t socialise, so despite meeting some of the most interesting people I’ve come across would not be recommended to see them once our work had finished. That’s another reason I so rarely meet new people as most people do at work. Even in the shop I met a number of weirdos, crooks, dropouts and the like, plus people I could play tennis with, have healing from and a few women who wouldn’t go out with me, though at least I was allowed to try. Working in a shop does mean most customers tend to see you as an inferior so not as a potential friend or partner. We did have our share of celebrity customers, though I wasn’t always aware till after they’d gone. George Layton was a regular we did get to know very well, and a really nice guy. David Bedford was as well, and was clearly very busy in sport since his professional days. Julia Somerville spent half an afternoon with us after getting locked in her car, and we all chatted over tea. Sue Cook was an occasional visitor, with her family, who we then saw away on the holiday programme. And my personal favourite was Samantha Janus, who didn’t say anything but at least spent some time walking around the shop so I could look at her with my mouth wide open. I resisted the urge to ask for an autograph though.
So I used whichever doors were open this year, and learnt as a result that while any creative door’s open, use it as long as you can. You can never produce too much, and however easy it seems at the time, should never take it for granted. If you’re producing easily, keep going as long as you can. You can then look back and see everything you’ve got, and be pleased with what you made.