Threshold

Well, I’m waiting in the departure lounge and my America trip is just about over. At this point, there isn’t much left to say that I haven’t already said. My last two days in LA upheld the brilliant standard of meeting after meeting and a general feeling of being in the middle of some kind of crazy dream. So far, nothing is concrete, but things are very, very exciting.
     It’s weird; on the one hand it feels like this trip was over in a heartbeat, but at the same time it’s as though I’ve been away for years. I guess that’s the thing about having been as busy as I have been. So much has happened that the last two weeks simultaneously feel like a lifetime and like a blink.
     Am I ready to go home? If you’d asked me a few days ago I’d have said yes. If you’d asked me yesterday it would have been an emphatic no. Now, well it’s a bit of both. Don’t get me wrong; I have zero desire to return to repetitive working life, but on the other hand, I think I need to get home to really take stock of what has happened and get a clear idea of what the way forward looks like. But man, it feels bright. It hit me this afternoon as I was trying to get all reflective about my trip that I’m still so early in the career I’m trying to make for myself and, all going well, this will only be the first of hopefully many trips to America. I’m not really feeling wistful about this being the end of something, more just excited about it being a beginning. America has left me in a state of renewed passion, bursting with ideas and itching to get started on whatever happens next. Which I suppose was the whole point.
     I won’t pretend it was a perfect trip. There was plenty that was stressful or frustrating and some things from back home weren’t going smoothly and cast a bit of a pall over some of the days I had here. But I’ve never strived for perfection; to me perfect is a synonym for boring, and if there’s no bad with the good then there isn’t really a story to tell when it’s all over. But what I’m coming back home with is a lot of really happy feelings, some great new friends and a deep sense of mingled satisfaction and anticipation.
     Plus, it’s not like Melbourne represents some bleak reality I’m returning to. Mel MacDuff, the webseries I’ve been working on with some friends from VCA is about to commence shooting, my new play, The Lucas Conundrum has started rehearsals and ought to be a lot of fun and of course, my first properly published novel, Boone Shepard is coming out in March and man, I cannot wait. I saw the first draft illustrations the other day and since then I’ve been in a state of almost perpetual giddiness. This is a real thing that is actually happening and the excitement I feel can’t be understated.
     2015 was a funny year. For most of it I felt like I was in a holding pattern; doing the same things over and over again, hoping for any kind of breakthrough and dealing with a niggling fear that getting anywhere with my writing was still a long way away. But then things blew up and now I honestly feel like a different person. It’s a whole new chapter and I could not be more ready.
     Lastly though, I just want to throw out a huge thanks for all the support I’ve had from you all over the last few weeks. Everyone’s kind words have been so humbling and have helped make this trip just that much more special. It’s really something to know that your friends and family back home are rooting for you, and your unending support is something I am so grateful for. So thank you all. It’s meant the world to me.
     Anyway, enough rambling for now. See you on the other side.