The Pillow Blog: Phew

I can't believe this crazy year is nearly over. Only ten more days of 2008 already - goodness.

AND WHAT A YEAR IT HAS BEEN.

This time last year I was in Greece, hanging out and being extremely relaxed after the crazy year that was 2007 - the change between Athens-then and Athens-now is sobering and very sad. I kinda think of Athens as a second home, so it's obviously distressing to see what's going on there.

I remember I was extremely ill at the beginning of last year - I spent the first week of January sick in bed when I should have been at rehearsal for Macbeth! The tour took me through much of January and February, before I went to Tokyo in March for a little trip. I managed to see Celine Dion in concert (thank you Mark!) and we also had a fantastic day trip to Nikko (thank you Tomo and Robin!) in what was one of my nicest visits to Japan since I left. While there I got invited to come to UCLA and interview...

...and that's what I did in early April. In the meantime I had the privilege of being part of the first ever Project Brand New (which has since become a global phenomenon, thanks to the awesome ladies in charge of it). Los Angeles was quite lovely in April, not too hot, not too cold. The interviews went well, and I was accepted to the MFA programme! Alas my godfather died while I was here, so I cut short my US trip and cancelled my New York visit to go home for his funeral. RIP, Uncle Dan.

In May, I managed to re-do my US trip, and got to New York at last. I had so much fun! Thanks of course to S and the Scorpion Princess ;)

Thanks to my glorious unemployability, I couldn't get much work over the summer. Instead I spent the time writing a lot, and of course did my regular Greek stint in July. The performances were quite marvellous this year - Fiona Shaw in Happy Days, and Pina Bausch's Orpheus & Eurydice. Talk about spoiled...!

Much of August was spent in preparation for the big works of September; 'Caligula' was invited to be part of the Dublin Theatre Festival, and I moved to California. Somehow - probably with the blessings of a variety of angels and Saint Jude! - we managed to get both of these huge, stressful, wonderful things to happen without anyone getting hurt in the process. Everyone involved in the show - whether in New York, Winchester, or of course Dublin - was incredible. I am very lucky to have had such a posse!

And then I got to this place. They all SAID it was kinda like a guantlet, but I kinda couldn't quite figure what that meant. But I have had the fullest, craziest most rewarding three months here already. Three years here will be the making of me!

Of course this year has not been without its losses, its challenges and its sad news. Perhaps I've had more this year than any other year - but somehow, at the root of it all, it's all part of being alive, isn't it? That's how I'm trying to look at it all.

I can't quite figure out how to end this little post. So I'm going to hand it over to one of the loveliest discoveries I made this year - the poet Hafiz. He's an odd little case, rapturously in love with the idea of rapture. Definitely worth a look, for a different perspective. :)