I have no work today: Lilly in the Driving Seat Blog Post 2

Hello everyone!

How we all doing today? I thought I’d follow up my last blog with a new one today as I have no work! I was on standby waiting for a call all morning but no, sadly nothing...anyway such is life. So instead I am writing this blog from the comfort of my own bed, which also doubles as my office. Do most of my writing here! Is that bad? Well if I need a nap in between I think it works out quite well!

So yeah maybe I should talk about my writing a little bit, as eventually I would like to leave my part time job and go in to writing more full time. But surely this is what we all want, to do a job that we actually enjoy! Standing on shop floors in high heels all day isn’t much fun. You know those “baby on board” badges that pregnant ladies wear on the tube, well sometimes I think they should invent one saying “standing in heels all day” ...now give me your seat! 

You know those men that push past you to get the seat and they’ve been sitting down in an office all day? Yeah I hate that... and I’m only a small person, I have small feet, if you step on them you are basically stupid. (Keeping it clean Carole) Also rucksacks...need I say more?  Anyway, went slightly off topic there. So yes as far as my writing is concerned I have been doing it for as long as I can remember, even in primary school I was writing short stories and poetry, some of which were pretty dark, or a bit strange... When I was thirteen I was a runner up in a poetry competition with my poem ‘Figure’ which was about a man who had sold his soul to the devil. Yep. 

Most recently I had a staged reading of my play ‘Dirty Promises’ at Samuel French’s bookshop near Goodge st. It was the second staged reading of the play and had some great feedback and interest. It was in association with The So & So Arts club which is run by Sarah Berger. The club is all about creating work and joining together as artists from all walks of life. If you would like to know more why not check out the clubs page http://www.thesoandsoartsclub.com/

The play is still being developed and is being sent in to theatre’s etc. By the end of the year I should know more, but it is looking good.

So the play is essentially about domestic violence within a young couple’s relationship, with a friend getting caught in the middle. It is dark and poetic and uses lots of abstract imagery, but also has a lot of black comedy. It is set in the urban surroundings of Camden, but really at the end you are left wondering if any of it was actually real.

The poster for the first staged reading at The Theatre Royal Stratford East.

So what’s next? Well I am currently working on several new projects, and am always thinking up new ways of creating! So if I could eventually leave the shop floor that would make me most happy...but until then I’ll keep slogging it out! Keep writing, keep auditioning etc. Unless somebody wants to offer me a job... Until next time.

Lilly.

Lilly here in the Driving Seat! Blog Sitter - Blog Post 2

Well hello to all of Carole’s loyal blog readers!

Me

My name is Lilly Driscoll and I shall be taking over Carole’s blog for the next couple of weeks. As you may know we are also opening it up to anyone who would like to guest blog. If you would like to get involved and perhaps write your own one off blog while Carole is away please do email me at lillydriscoll@hotmail.co.uk and I shall select the ones I feel are most relevant. Thank you.

So with all of that out of the way...how are we all?  This is a new audience for me and I’m quite excited that I am writing to faces that I don’t yet recognise! But hopefully I may get the chance to eventually know some of you. If you would like to get in touch and give me some feedback that would be most welcome! Comments are always encouraged, or you could always tweet me if you are in to that! @LillyDriscoll.

Nat and I in Girl E

So I’ve known Carole for about two years now, I first met her as I came in to audition for the play ‘Girl E’ written by Clifford Oliver. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I headed in to the depths of Barking...but what I got was the part offered to me within the time it took my train journey home. They wanted to know if I would take the part so that they could stop the casting! I was very overwhelmed and at the time I was working for a little shop called Accessorize, and knew that if I took the part I would have to leave my job...so I jumped at the opportunity! Ha, no really I had to consider for all of about 5 minutes and then told myself “what am I doing? Of course I’m going to say yes” and it was the best decision. 

‘Girl E’ has been a massive learning opportunity for me; it has helped me to become fearless as a performer, and has actually turned me in to a much stronger performer. I mean when you have to stand up in front of a hall full of teenage kids and pull off the emotional performance that ‘Girl E’ demanded, well you can pretty much do anything after that. I have to say that it wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for Carole; she guided me and pushed me to a point where she knew she could get the best performance out of me. It really has helped me and led to further castings and interest but I won’t go in to that now.

So as Carole mentioned I am a writer too and I do write poetry and plays, films etc. but the reason I started a blog is because things really do get to me quite a bit, the world, the industry, sexism etc. I did think that instead of an angry tweet here and there and a little rant about how things need to get better aren’t really resonating, and this is the reason why I have come up with an angry blog about Olivia Colman instead! (If you’ve read it you know it’s not really) 

So with each blog I would like to try and talk about something that gets to me, maybe you can write to me and tell me what gets to you? But for this first one I thought I’d just stick with an introduction... Keep you guessing yes? Anyhoo, I’ve got a family dinner tonight as my brother has just got engaged! So we’re off out to celebrate! But will keep you with fresh blogs throughout the coming weeks, and do let me know if you want to get involved.

Thanks for reading a little about me and hope to keep you all entertained. Also Carole, I’m on my best behaviour with the swearing! Promise.

Lilly 

Introducing my Blog Sitter for August - 25 year old Lilly Driscoll, Actor and Writer -

Good morning everyone!

So here I am just a little later than intended with my exciting news about my holiday Blog Sitter....... And so here goes. I am delighted to welcome the very beautiful Lilly Driscoll, Actor and writer (looking a bit like Lilian Gish here!) who will take on this platform for a limited season! Well until August 9th in fact.

Its a bit of a risk - this passing over my precious blog-baby to someone else - but indeed it is also hugely exciting! What if she says something I don't like...? will i feel the need to censor? will that mean you will all abandon me never to return? Nahhh - surely not to either!. What you will get instead of my familiar old voice will be a new and fresh angle from this twenty-five year old passionate actor and writer. 

So why did I invite Lilly to take on this mantle on my behalf and hers? Well because I have directed Lil over the past couple of years in a show - Girl E by Clifford Oliver a sensitive and beautiful piece of writing about girls, male coercion, rape, gangs and things pretty horrible faced by many young women today sadly. 

Me - in retreat mode? Please do not compare this photo with Lilly's! She is a child!

Lil is a joy to work with. She's a fine and instinctive young actor with a flare for touching the pulse of narrative and character. She's also an emerging writer - and pretty prolific too. And she, like me comes from good Irish stock!

So I welcome her here into my blog home - and hope you have fun reading her over the next month. I am not sure yet how often she will blog - but she will let you know. Her own blog started yesterday can be found at http://blogalotdriscoll.simplesite.com/242753274

I have also suggested that we actively encourage other guest bloggers to contribute their articles over the next month - so if you fancy writing one - just send Lilly an email lillyd87@hotmail.co.uk with a recent photo and up to 1000 words on any subject related to theatre or life! Lilly will curate this on our behalf.

So I may dip in and out during the month if anything extraordinary happens - but mostly I will be beavering away on my novel starting in Cortijo Romero on a course with Diane Samuels next week - will let you know how that's going when I am back in September! And of course I will also be curating the visit from ARKA Teatr on August 15/16/17 - do come and see this amazing show

August 15 tickets http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/myevent?eid=6796481459
August 16 tickets http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/myevent?eid=7340709259
August 17 tickets http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/myevent?eid=7343796493

Get booking!

Have a great summer y'all......... and now over to Lilly!

This is very scary Lil 

The Olivia Colman complex.

Hi Lilly here sitting in for Carole for August! 

Here goes....So I’ve been thinking about starting up a little blog...and here it is! Basically things annoy me, a lot. And I thought I would be the bigger person here and give you the option of listening to my ramblings or not... rather than posting every god damn thing on facebook (sorry main offenders) but it’s true, everyone has an opinion and everyone thinks that their own opinion is so important. And of course with the inflated ego of an actor I think that mine is too... but if you’re still here I blame you. OK, great!
So being annoyed isn’t the main reason for doing this (I would hope) but as some of you know I am an actor/writer. Yes that’s right actorslashwriter. Another thing I hate is labelling but anyway I digress. So it’s also about maybe voicing the things we actor slash writers go through. I know that my family get sick of hearing about it and to be honest I don’t blame them, if I had a daughter who was always going on about Olivia Colman and Sheridan Smith I would be just as sick as I am seeing them on the telly every week. 


So I get these days when I feel like I should just quit. I had one of those last week as I watched the very disappointing ‘Run’ on channel 4. Sorry to anyone who enjoyed it... that’s your opinion... anyway. It was the moment you realise that with so few female roles available as it is and with half going to Olivia Colman and the other half going to Shazza, not many of us will be likely to ever get a look in. I mean some will of course, the lucky ones, but the majority of us will not, and it’s sad. You do feel like giving up and most people say “no don’t do it, you’re amazing” but you also get the “well why don’t you just go and get a full time job? Try something else?” questions...but when you’ve been doing it practically all of your life how can you just stop? It’s a drug. I am addicted to it. And most importantly it makes me happy. I will come back to this but for now back to the point, OC and Shaz... I would make the point that it is lazy casting. I don’t want to keep using these two actresses as an example but they are everywhere at the moment, so it’s a pretty good place to start (of course there are other culprits) I do admire them and enjoy some of their work, but they are not right for everything. Olivia Colman was brilliant in ‘Tyrannosaur’, her performance broke my heart. She’s a good crier. Anyway...she didn’t get nominated for a BAFTA - outrage - OK let’s put her in every TV drama possible, oh and every comedy too. What about Peter Mullan? Did anyone complain about him missing out? ...I love watching Mullan, but if he were on telly every week I’d probably get sick of him too. This is not me saying these actresses can’t act, because they can, of course they can, but it just annoys me that the industry is going this way, and it's boring.


Anyway I’m going to stop with this topic for now because I’m even starting to bore myself.




I look unhappy don't I?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2013/jul/23/paul-bhattacharjee-cory-monteith-actingSo it has been a sad couple of weeks in the news concerning actors, and I think it has left the industry asking what more can they do to help actors, and in particular the mental health of actors. Well the answer would be a lot, there is a lot that could be done and definitely should be done to support us. There will always be people that say "yeah but you choose to do it, so it's your own fault" and yes we do choose to do it, but I'm sure that most of us don't go in it for the days we can't affort lunch and have to use our Boots points card just so that we can get a meal deal! We do it because we love it, maybe just maybe because we can't do anything else! And it is damn hard, and I think even harder to understand unless you are in it. So yes it is and can be very lonely and not many people understand, but we do it. So what can you do? You can support us, in any way that you can, let us talk, let us be who we are and don't tell us to go and get a day job, because we might just tell you to go stick your 9-5.


Ok Lil - off to a good start then - just watch your language - some of us on here are old enough to be your mum! (grandma even.... oh no!.. not me of course!)

Retreat into the Hills - Blog Break for August: Blog 155

Good morning!

I had a great day yesterday - the second full time one in Jasmine Street and indicative of just the way I want it be with her! A place to explore, play, drink good coffee and eat bread.... well the bread thing ... didn't actually manifest yesterday. I blame Maciej... well not really. It was his last day with me before he returns on August 9th for the ARKA Teatr visit and we had a lot of ends to tie up before he was out of Jasmine Street. Its been a good trip - much achieved including him being interviewed for Polish radio. I am grateful to him - what started out as an odyssey to Poland in April has transformed into a new business relationship which is helping me to realise Jasmine Street. I do love alchemy! 

Ria Butler-Knowles

And then to the studio to work with Ria and Sam on their new solo piece which Sam is writing for RIa. Its a shocking piece even in its fragmented form right now - about teenage sexuality and modern gender politics. Mmmm - tough stuff. But it was fabulous to chart this territory forensically in the studio, and we progressed the ideas some distance. 

I reluctantly left Ria and Sam scrutinising Archetype cards and rushed off to meet Cameron (Cllr Geddes) to visit Trinity school in Dagenham to talk about Project Polish Theatre!  What a revelation... the Head is Paul McPortland.... frankly a genius. He runs a school for the severely disabled (3-19) and is inspiring as he talks about his approach. Many of his pupils are at the severe end of the autism spectrum, so we talk about how he and his staff make school a meaningful space to be in, to learn and to be seen. He tells me that when he arrived there in the early nineties, the school was in disarray. Children with autism particularly need structure and certainty to help them in the extreme levels of anxiety and acting this out that they experience. Its at once essential that discipline and predictability are certain, but also a freedom to experience the moment and for staff to pick up on individual's needs as they occur. I am reminded of the excellent book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle - a definite must read!  Peter has it all. This passionate fifty-something is a pragmatist - if it works use it, enhance it and see where it leads you.

Our conversation was far reaching and eclectic and by the end we had determined to begin exploring a project together with Jasmine Street in the Autumn. Peter is a great advocate of theatre and drama with his pupils, he just gets how to goes straight into the heart bypassing often the need to intellectualise. So looking forward to that - and grateful to Cameron for suggesting this visit.

And then we were off to Butler Court, nestled under the apron of the Civic Centre in Dagenham. Once again Cameron has come up trumps. I was getting a tad stressed by the need to find accommodation for our Polish actors (20 of them!) especially given the fact that we still have £2000 to raise and its only three weeks till they come now. This place was a revelation too in a different way - a rather caught-in-time building nestled between two tower blocks. The arrangement of this two storey building seems odd until Cameron explains that it was designed as the car park but converted in the eighties to a kind of hall of residence for student and newly qualified teachers. 

Jim the manager -  a welcoming New Zealander welcomes us and shows us round. There are seventy beds here and its a bit of a hidden gem. Games rooms, kitchens, common rooms - the Poles will be happy here. And to boot Jim has given us an extraordinarily good deal at £5 per person per night! Never dreamed we could achieve that! Once again thanks are due to Cameron for thinking this up and then making it happen - he's well suited to his job as a councillor!

Sarah Argent - Theatre Director

And then to Morrison's to buy food and see if they will donate to the Polish effort, after all they are in the shadow of the Civic too! I have to go back today to meet their charities manager. I took advantage of being in this supermarket to buy food for the visit of my friend Sarah Argent last night. Sarah is a wonderful director, and is recognised as one of the (if not THE) best directors of theatre for the under fives in the UK. We haven't seen each other for over 20 years, but reconnected through Facebook some time ago. And through this we have shared our practice and our lives. Indeed I saw a recent show at the Half Moon back in March- and what a joy it was. So I was hugely looking forward to seeing her and having her stay the night with me.

We didn't stop talking from the moment I picked her up from the station. To be honest it was amazing that I even got to cooking - engrossed as we were in our conversation. You see its a small tribe thing. Directors don't often get to share in depth their work. There is a certain protection that kicks in - vulnerability about one's own swampy process and just a little preciousness about it too. Not with Sarah - we talked the hind leg off Pegasus! Indeed I am in the process of persuading Sarah to help me out with a few things - Jasmine Street shaped. 

And so to my decision to take a break from blogging for the next month. Gulp! I have now been blogging since November when I innocently started to write my Cinderella blog as a means of building my 60-strong team. I had no idea about the subtleties nor ramifications of becoming a blogger - none at all! And there have been myriad - too many to write about here. Indeed I still marvel at the number of hits both that blog and this still get! its a surprise and a joy. So thanks to those of you who check in from time to time, and some who have made reading this part of their breakfast habit along with cornflakes and a cup of tea. I am grateful for this and it encourages me to write more.

Cortijo Romero

So why take a break for a month? Well fittingly the blogging journey has been nine months now- a suitable gestation period - and a monumental time of change. And its time for me to check out for a while. I need to retreat into a period of incubation - a time to dream and plan for my Jasmine Street future, to step back from the fire fighting of recent months and the leaving of Arc and very importantly too to focus on my other writing. 

Alongside my daily blog I have also been writing my 'other' book  - so most mornings I write between about 5am-9.30am. Its surprising how much you can get done in the silent hours. No emails, facebook posts or calls. Blissful lark time.  I am 350 pages into my first novel - and that's all I will share at this stage as its in its embryonic phase. And I am learning about it. I have been writing it on and off for over five years - and now its time for it to take centre stage.

Sierra Nevada Mountains

As step one in this I am off this weekend to a creative writing retreat in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada to a place called Cortijo Romero. There is no internet but a very lovely swimming pool looking up at the mountains. The course is being run by playwright Diane Samuels (Kindertransport) and consists of private writing time and group time. I can't wait! 

Corijo Romero - Door to the future!

So it feels like a bit of soul restoration is on its way for August. Of course the month will include the exciting ARKA visit and my Soulful Actor workshop too - in between the reflection and writing time. 

In my blog absence though I have much in store for you - I am in the process of negotiating a blog sitter for the month and making a space and platform for guest bloggers - those who might fancy a blog or two but don't necessarily want to commit to the whole thing! I shall be posting later today on how to get involved and submit a guest blog and also more information about my blog sitter!  

It'll be good to have more fresh voices on here - and serves me and hopefully my guests very well. 

So back later with the signposts for bloggers before I head for the hills!

Have a great day.

Social Capital and The Service Exchange Economy: Blog 154

Good Morning!

Another day ..... another dollar? So what does that actually mean? Well according to Wiktionary  the definition is ...

An expression recognising a balance in life, normalcy, and routineness

Mmmm?  So I wonder why that's my opening thought this morning on the Terrace Cafe - gone the melancholy of the last few days to be replaced by the first day full time in Jasmine Street. Well I can hardly claim normalcy nor routineness, attractive as they might appear! Apart from the routine of a shower, a coffee and some blogging time I guess!  But the shift over the past few months in my life can hardly be called either of those. Yet actually the balance bit does resonate. Letting go requires an embrace of balance I think. Letting go of the things that no longer serve us. 

Tough to relinquish what is known without a guarantee that what is to come will be better. But maybe the way to achieve balance is indeed to choose what to let go and what to keep. I remember Tom Peters, the management guru said in one of his books - 

'If it ain't broke break it'. Sounds counter-intuitive perhaps - destructive even? Well I have to come clean and say its been a guiding principle for me. Not that I am a change junkie or anything - just a believer too in that other well known mantra '"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got." Henry Ford (1863-1947), American founder of the Ford Motor Company

We tend to have a habit to sticking to what we know, defining a personal reality within often restrictive frameworks, and indeed when everything is clearly not working - what do we do? More often or not - we redouble our efforts, put our backs into doing precisely the same things! Nonsense really. But I guess that maybe the fear is that we don't know or have confidence in doing things otherwise. Or we are afraid to take the risk. There is a level of control freakery here - which of course often leads to the illusion that we can control the outcome. For me - change has been about intention. What is is that I want to achieve? and then simply taking the steps to manifest it - its a tricky balance of creating a compelling vision and also then a non-attachment to the goal. Maybe that's what the balance bit of the definition means for me.

So anyway - today I have just brought my 'previously cherished' £10 breadmaker into my JS studio - ready to begin the new daily routine (haha!) of making bread. My friend Ros, whose guest blog was published yesterday suggested that making bread was fitting in the Granary - she meant it metaphorically. I took her literally - the idea of the smell of yeast rising and new fresh bread appearing at the beginning of the day is simply something that people have always done. 

The difference maybe is that this is often restricted to the kitchen at home or indeed a bakery. I have a hunch though that the smell of baking bread will work for Jasmine Street as a real and metaphorical invitation to imagine. It feeds the body and the soul. The mechanics are beyond me just at the moment but I plan to read the instruction book a little later and get started. 

I have never been an earth mother so I imagine there will be some failures on the way - but that too is the nature of Jasmine Street. Not all ideas are good, but what they always do is lead to the next and the next until the right one presents itself.

And this brings me to the subject of this blog today. The nature of social capital and exchange. Its as old as the hills and deeply human. We love to exchange things, whether its gifts, knowledge or services. And examples of this type of community exchange have been plentiful over the past few weeks. 

Given that we are still madly fundraising for the ARKA Teatr visit - I have found a number of people willing to help me make it happen, effectively giving their time and imagination in return for sharing the journey maybe? We have had to find accommodation for our 20 Polish guests for a week in August. I was slightly exercised by this given that I have virtually no budget for it  - and then my friend Cameron Geddes (Local Councillor here in LBBD) sorted it out for me so that all 20 can stay at Butler Court for a fiver a night! Thanks Cameron! And we also have to feed them, so my friend Amari pitches up with the idea that she will cook and all I have to do is buy the ingredients! Wow - you see how people come together to make something happen - couldn't do it on my own.

Working in the office opposite my JS studio here at the Granary is a lovely woman - Aleya Chowdray. I only met her last week. She has great energy and commitment to creating a space here for well-being. So we have exchanged some time in my studio for her to see clients with a weekly massage for me! Got to be a winner eh? Had my first one last Friday. It was wonderful. No money exchanged - just each of us offering something to the other that they need. And today is my third exploratory session with Tim for the one-man show we are making together. Again another exchange - I want to direct a short piece and he wants to create a piece to hone his acting again. Perfect. 

My relationship here with Rooff is also one of these. I am paying a reduced rent for my studio, which otherwise I could not afford at this stage of the JS manifestation! In return I am working closely with Steve Drury to vision the Icehouse Cultural Quarter and to begin to implement it.

All of these things are indicators to me that we are on the right track  - that all it takes is a shared commitment to an idea to make it real. Of course we do need real hard cash too - and that comes in the form of commissions and income generation, the normal things. 

One of the things about community is its ability when its working well to foster such exchanges and reciprocity through which everyone gains. Its not a new thing - as so many stories in history tell us. Usually it takes an adverse set of circumstances to get people motivated to exchange in this way - Hurrican Katrina, the floods, 9/11, 7/7...... but how wonderful it is when we can just do this without such an impetus. 

So thanks to my wonderful collaborators who are enabling me to accelerate Jasmine Street much more quickly than I could have imagined, and certainly than I could have ever achieved by myself.

So first day in the office for me...... I wonder who will pitch up in my life today!

Have a good one yourselves - maybe even swap a service? 

Pounding The Streets of Barking: Blog 153

Good Sunday morning!

I am sitting in my new Jasmine Street Studio listening to Janis Ian - funny how we get drawn to different music to match our mood - we all do that don't we? Music is so powerful in transporting us to so many imaginal places and spaces. My Iphone offered me Janis's song Honour Them All this morning - such a great song about family,friends, personal and collective histories and enduring respect and love for those who touch our lives. Thank Janis - just did the trick for me this morning as I posted my friend Ros's guest blog on friendship.

And yesterday was full of friendship. Its so lovely to have Maciej staying with me for a few days to help me connect with people in Barking and Dagenham to share news of the ARKA Teatr visit. Josh had done his homework for us in locating all the Polish and Eastern European shops in the borough, so trusty list in hand Maciej and I piled flyers and posters into my car and set off to meet and talk to people, particularly those from these communities. 

We stopped of for some cold borscht at Lithuatca - a shop just off the market. The soup was yummy - and we left our flyers and put up our poster. Then we popped into the Barking Bathouse located in the Learning Centre by the Town Hall. Rachelle and Farah are there and we set too to share the ARKA project. They are enthusiastic and characteristically full of ideas. They are hosting a well being day on August 17th on Abbey Green, and invite us to bring the ARKA actors to perform a snippet from their show The Ball at Stephen Hawking's  - nice idea. Farah talks a lot about the arts in the borough saying that she hears it as a faint heartbeat- getting stronger by the day. She compares the borough to Shoreditch and Dalston a few years ago - a hidden pulse emerging here now.

Maciej had hurt is leg and with some insistence (a great deal actually) I persuaded him to have a massage from the wonderful Bob. Reluctantly he agreed - but then he did have three of us on his back (not literally!). 

I took off to the Abbey Green opposite the theatre to the U Barking Dagenham celebration Reasons to be Proud. An eclectic mix of people soak up the sunshine and learn how to juggle and dance! I bump into a number of friends and colleagues, and Maciej gets to meet the Polish Yoga teacher who has just started classes at the Bathhouse - turns out she is a neighbour of mine. So Maciej and she gabble on in Polish, sharing places and people. 

David Heinemann has done a great job over the past few months in making this project happen with local people with and for the Council, and I see Monica Needs who works tirelessly to create such projects in spite of dwindling council funding! 

Jed Kenny in action! Not a great pic I am afraid

I turn my attention to the green and see a young man - Jed Kenny teaching a motley crew of all ages the choreography for a hip-hop dance. Its a joy to watch young and old with concentrated faces following his every move. Later he tells me that he is passionate about dance and wants to set up classes, but at the moment he is unemployed. We have a chat about how it might be nice for him to pop over to Jasmine Street to see if we can help each other. I look forward to that.

And then to my delight I bump into Seun Oshinaike Show - a real shining star in the Barking and Dagenham firmament. He runs a great project called http://www.brightersteppings.co.uk/

Their homepage says: Brighter Steppings is a social enterprise that equips young people aged 10 -16 with employability skills such as self confidence, communication skills and team work. Our focus is based on developing intuitive, educational and exciting programmes for young people. 

Seun's company won an award last week in the Barking and Dagenham Business Awards last week. I have been enjoying his updates on Facebook so it was great to meet him and to be able to buy a copy of the book written by young people that that they have just launched. LIFE @ SCHOOL BOOK

Guide for Secondary School - full of insight into transitioning from primary to secondary.The perfect interactive book for school students from 9+ on sale
£4.99 at Seun's website.

So this is Seun getting into the groove at the celebration! 

And below Seun and some of his young authors posing with Maciej who appears to have grown two horns! 

And a photo of Seun and I together! What an inspirational young man. 

So that's it from me today - Maciej and I are off to promote ARKA further in the borough today. 

Have a great Sunday y'all!

Ps. My new business cards which arrived on Friday!

Guest Blog on the Nature of Enduring Friendship - Ros Durdant-Hollamby

From Ros Durdant-Hollamby - who spoke recently on friendship at my celebration of the theme.

Ros Hollamby

"We'll be friends forever, won't we Pooh?" asked Piglet. "Even longer" Pooh answered.

Friendship, according to one quote I found, isn’t about who you’ve known the longest – it’s about who came, and never left your side.Life and friendship, friendship and life, the two are inextricably bound together and it’s hard to know where one starts and the other ends. 

Friendship is born C S Lewis says at the moment one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one’ It’s very reassuring isn’t it to find other people who share our quirky habits? 

My husband loves it when he finds someone else who likes peanut butter and jam on toast or who takes their socks off whilst watching the television! In other words friendship starts when something clicks - when we make a connection with someone, a connection that somehow binds us to them.


How many of you have ever read some of the Wilbur Smith novels about South Africa? One of the things that struck me about the native tribes was their way of greeting each other. 

Instead of saying hello like we do they say ‘I see you’ and the other responds ‘I am here’. There is nothing casual about this greeting and it demands a real response. I think we all crave those words,’ I see you’ because they make us feel valued. They are our call to community and give us a sense of belonging.But sadly not every time we say to our friends ‘I see you’ do they respond ‘I am here.’ 

I’ve had one or two friends who have gone through some very difficult times recently and each one has said to me, “You really get to know who your true friends are when you’re going through bad times.” They are the ones who come and never leave your side.

I feel I have been blessed with some really amazing friends in my life and I think as I get older I rely on my friends more and more. They’re not an optional extra but an essential part of my life. One of them gave me
these words recently.

"Friends are like stars, you don't have to see them to know that they are there.I have learned that as I share my vulnerabilities and hear theirs it allows me to heal and become more fully myself." 

It’s a big risk to let someone else into the most painful and private parts of ourselves, to let down the mask and stop the pretence. So I started to think about what makes a true friend.

A friend for me has to be someone I can be myself around, someone I don’t have to pretend with, and someone I know wont judge me, or point the finger if I’m wrong. Someone I can trust with confidences. Someone who will love me unconditionally, hug me when I need it, or wipe away my tears. But someone who will also tell me the truth when I need to hear it and someone whose company at times goes beyond words and touches my heart.

As Henri Nouwen says - ‘When we honestly ask ourselves which people in
our lives mean the most to us, we often find it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain, and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand.’ - Henri Nouwen (author, priest & theologian.)

Friendship for me is ultimately about laying myself down for someone else because I love them. ‘greater love has no man than he lay down his life for a friend.’ This is the extreme version granted, but love is at the root of all friendship and it has to be agape love, selfless love, unconditional love, not stifling, possessive or controlling love if we want our friendships to be healthy and grow.

As the Bard himself, William Shakespeare said -

‘A friend is the one that knows you as you are,
understands where you have been, accepts what
you have become, and still, gently allows you to
grow.’

But as we all know too well friendships don’t just happen, we have to work at them. We have to hang on in there and work at staying connected It’s all too easy to become distracted, too busy or too tired to be there for them or simply take them and their presence in our lives for granted. We learn that as we give out in friendship we are blessed in that giving because we become part of the glue that helps to hold a life together, which is a real privilege and very special.

Carole and I have been friends through some difficult and painful times over the years and we have also shared and celebrated the happy and exciting times.We’ve connected on many levels as we’ve laughed and cried sometimes at the most random of things.

Anais Nin wrote - 'Each friend represents a world to us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.’

Carole and I have known each other since we were 11! Secondary school was a whole new world to both of us, as we were to each other! We met on the first day in September as we were in the same class.We talked endlessly, scribbled notes to each other during lessons, usually about boys or what we were doing after school, did French verse speaking and school poetry recitals, French and German Exchanges,shared clothes, dreams and because of Carole I met my husband on a blind date!


We both got a Saturday job in Freeman Hardy & Willis, (it doesn’t exist anymore) a shoe shop in Tonbridge in Kent where we both grew up. The manager, Mr Sidway, loved us, as he thought that we were
such lovely and reliable girls!! He put us in charge of the men’s department, which was a definite mistake as we were upstairs and he couldn’t keep an eye on us. 

Apart from the steady flow of young men who would sometimes ask us out, Carole used to keep me amused for hours. She would decide what accent she was going to use and then serve whoever came into the shop inthat accent. If I heard ‘Johnny you’re smelly’ under her breath I knew we were in for a Scottish accent! I couldn’t keep a straight face in front of her so I would disappear out the back with the shoes and cry with laughter! She also sometimes found herself a pair of men’s shoes, invariably far too big for her, put them on and then serve the next customer in them. It certainly helped pass the time and I laughed until my sides ached. Indeed I laughed out loud as I was writing this as the memories came flooding back! We did actually sell lots of shoes too! 

Our friendship has stood the test of time and has moved on through the different phases of our lives.In an ideal world all our friendships would last and grow but in reality we come to realise that our lives are peppered with deaths and resurrections. For all kinds of reasons or sometimes no real reason at all except perhaps circumstances we let go of a friend or a project we are let go, cast aside and it hurts. But although the pain and uncertainty is hard to live with we discover that there are new joys and exciting new opportunities waiting for us around the corner, or even just next door!

Carole has moved in to her new studio at The Granary, and a new season in her life to bake fresh bread (metaphorically speaking of course!) and we look
forward to the wonderful smell of it baking , which will draw new people and projects to this space, and of course hungry people, new audiences, eager to eat it and share it fresh from the oven! I wish her well with Jasmine Street.



Editor's Note:

Many thanks for this Ros - oh and by the way I just bought a breadmaker from ebay for £10 - thanks to your words I have decided to start baking bread in my studio to share with people coming in for a chat and to develop a new idea! Going to try it out tomorrow for the first time - fancy the smell mostly! 

The Long goodbye, A Jasmine Plant and Community Cohesion: Blog 152

Good day y'all

Once again I am sitting on the Terrace at the Granary, shafts of lark light bathing the still houseboats opposite me. 

So this has been a week of hellos and goodbyes. Goodbye to my friends at Arc and hello to Jasmine Street and Maciej.Yesterday was my last Arc day apart from the two weeks when I come back to manage the ARKA Teatr visit and to welcome our Polish friends. Its goodbye to nearly thirty years of love, directing many plays and working with and training wonderful actors and enjoying great projects with clients and collaborators. I am feeling a rich mix of sadness, joy and anticipation for the future. As Julian of Norwich said "All will be well, all will be well, all will be well". 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_of_Norwich

Yesterday was a surprisingly relaxed day all things considered. Maciej and I got to work on meeting people and dropping off ARKA poster and flyers. I am particularly grateful to the support of Carl Blackburn at the CVS who has given us some very helpful advice and contacts to spread the ARKA word and is helping us to make this visit happen. And to Joan Brandon at the Volunteer Bureau for bringing me more fifties stuff to people my cafe installation and also taking flyers and posters to distribute. Thanks both! 

I also had a great visioning meeting with Steve Drury from Rooff who own the Granary and the Malthouse. We are finding our way to cementing a great partnership and I am very excited about realising our dreams for the Icehouse Quarter. 

I received a lovely email last night from Nita telling me I should pop into the Arc office as there was something waiting for me, a gift from my Arc team. So being of a slightly impatient nature I had to pop in just now - and there on my now cleared desk sat these. A Jasmine plant for JS and a lovely scented candle. I have to admit a moment of thespian extravagance and a few tears. Standing on my own in the heart of Arc. Thanks guys - it means a great deal. So the beautiful 
Jasmine is now settling in, like I am by the door to Jasmine Street. In the office too, as if by exquisite synchronicity my new JS business cards. 

And its been a couple of days of mingling and meeting new people too. This coincided with a meeting I went to of the Community Cohesion Sub-Committee for the borough, led by the CVS. 

This committee has been delegated to the voluntary sector and as has become abundantly clear to the people around that table - its been gently nudged here because this government and consequently this administration don't tend to use the word cohesion much any more. Its certainly not explicit in corporate planning. The reason seems to be that its a given that we all weave cohesion into business as usual. Whilst I agree with this in principle, the problem is that without a conscious and express intention to see things through this lens there is always a real possibility that we walk unconsciously towards conflict, racism and separation. 

Why do I say this? Aren't we supposedly making great strides in the areas of cohesion and diversity? Well yes - it can't be denied that progress has been made. But its not a finite thing, we need to be consistently vigilant and mindful so that our unconscious attitudes and prejudices do not lead us into actions that cause harm and disaffection. Anyway  - this was the conclusion of this group. It probably right that the voluntary sector lead on cohesion - after all it is us that are out there in our organisations daily focused on our particular ways and means of contributing to a collective better way. 

And I had a bit of personal experience too that chimes with this. My lovely neighbours at home are Bangladeshi, and fully immersed in fasting for Ramadan. In spite of this, Rumi called to me on Thursday over my fence "Aunty - I have something for you'. She then hurried indoors returning moments later with a dish - a gift of lunch for me - a biryani. She told me to heat it up and make a green salad to go with it. I did this later and shared it with a good friend. It was a small act of kindness that touched me deeply and a perfect example of the simple things that make a huge difference.

Later last night whilst watering my plants I found myself in conversation with Rumi's husband, Mohammed, and we talked about this whilst his little three year old jumped about pointing at the aeroplanes and stars in the night sky. Mohammed's experience is that we are very good in the UK at welcoming
people from other countries. He is hopeful and happy, although he too commented that its tougher for new migrant communities like the Polish to root themselves and find belonging. It felt great to be sharing, and we both commented on the very obvious thing - that we have so much more in common than we do in difference. This got us to discussing faith and values. It was lovely to share. Simple and sacred really. 

So today - Maciej and I are doing the rounds of the Polish shops and cafes here in Barking and Dagenham to talk to people about ARKA's visit. And off too to a community celebration by U Barking and Dagenham on the Abbey Green in front of the Broadway Theatre. I am looking forward to it.

Have a great Saturday