Oh, this is fast
Oh, how things can change from one moment to the next!
This past Monday, I spent my afternoon at McGill, working as a Standardized Patient, with quite a few breaks. During one of these, my boss asked me if it was true, that someone had told him he was going to be losing me to Toronto.
“Maybe, eventually?” I said, very uncertainly. “I’ve been saying it for years, right now I’m planning for January, but it keeps getting pushed. And even if I moved, I would come back all the time.” I assured him. At this point, the likelihood that I would be moving to Toronto in January was slim to none.
Once done, I drove to Suzanna’s for acting class. When I get the script in an email, I don’t print it, so I usually only write down my own lines to learn, not my partner’s. I know I should, but it’s an interesting exercise every once in a while to not know what the other person is going to say. Or so I try to convince myself.
After doing camera for the amazing scene work of 2 of my classmates, Nick and I went to run our scene from Narcos out back. I knew all of my lines, but I didn’t know where his ended before me, so I would cut him off every time he paused. I hate it when other people do that to me, so it was one more reminder that I should not learn lines that way.
After 4 or 5 times though, we were pretty good, so we went back to class and went last. From the beginning, Suzanna said we had the flirting down pat, but we had other things to work on. This was high praise, considering the fact that back in LA, I was told to flirt as homework because I was so bad at it in class. I could have claimed victory then and there, but I got some other tweaks, like treating some of it as new information, and I got to play around with how some of the things affected me. Over all, it was an awesome scene that was so much fun to play. Because that’s the best kind of scene work; when you feel like you’re playing J
On Tuesday, I was supposed to be filming a scene on a non-union project that I had been working on for months (sporadically), with the director, through the casting process. It was an amazing project with heart and an incredible message and I was so excited to be in it, but then they cut my scene. Which I completely understand, but I still made it a point to fill my day with fun things to distract me from what I wasn’t doing. I went to see Professor Marston and the Wonder Women with a friend (super interesting, and I had no idea! It’s probably not for everyone, but I really enjoyed it) in the afternoon, then Only the Brave with my parents at night.
These were very welcome distractions, and I am so happy with the support system I have built/was born with, but a huge contributor to my not thinking about the role I lost, was the crazy venture I was getting into.
You see, Monday night, a friend wrote to ask me if I was still planning to move to Toronto. I made myself sound way more committed and determined than I actually was, and got myself a roommate. For December rather than January. And while I have been super loose about all Toronto plans, she was super on the ball, sending me places she had found pretty much immediately. She knew what she wanted to pay, what area she wanted to live in…she had the whole thing figured out and I was sorely lagging behind.
If I’m being honest, January would have turned into September, or some other faraway date that may never have arrived. Instead, with my friend who was very excited and a go-getter, I spent most of Tuesday checking out places, sharing my plans with the world and reaching out to people I know in Toronto. There was also a bunch of people who reached out to me, either suggesting we meet up once I’m there, asking to crash on my couch once I move in, or a few even asking to move in with me. One of these offers became our 3rd roommate.
Though I have also been working and had a rehearsal for a really cool social media event/short film we are filming this weekend, most of my week has been spent figuring out this Toronto move. Which is terrifying, but also so incredibly exciting. I’ll definitely have updates the next time I post. And I’ll probably talk about this move a lot in the coming months, because this is huge!
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
-Antoine de Saint-Exupery
