Ash Wednesday: Liberation Day!

                Yesterday’s Ash Wednesday was a very special Ash Wednesday as it was the first Ash Wednesday in 24 years in which I was not still hot on my mission of completing my screenplay “Ash Wednesday” that I had begun in August of 1993.  Last year had been my 23^rd Ash Wednesday still writing.  I was supposed to start the CFP last February but in January had been advised to postpone it until this February so that I could do the introductory course and internship program in May as a preparation for the formal cohort program. Since I did not anticipate having time to write after I started the classes, I had to finish the script before the intro class was to start May 14^th.  Indeed at 2 a.m. on April 29^th I typed “Fade Out, End Credits” on the bottom of page 148 of the script and the 23 year project was finally at an end.  A screenplay is supposed to be 120 pages but, given the fact that the consultant I was working with in Kansas City had agreed to read anything up to 150 pages, I now considered it done in terms of sharing it with industry professionals.  I had successfully cut a 441 page 2^nd draft to a 148 page 3^rd draft.

                Much has happened since then.  I did indeed spend the summer in intense studies in the intro course, a class that was more overwhelming than even graduate school as we covered about 150 pages of technical material for each session accompanied by a brutally tough exam each time taken directly from the final national exam that we wouldn’t be taking for another 18 months.  This class was supposed to be over at the end of June but stretched on until the end of September.  So much for the Summer of ’16. 

But in the fall I got news of two Los Angeles based screenplay contests that required the manuscripts to be no more than 130 pages.  Some diligent editing and rewriting brought mine down to 127 pages.  One of the contests, WeScreenplay, would be announcing winners in four stages – quarter finals in early January, semi in late January, finalists in mid-February, and the top six scripts of the one thousand submitted would be announced on March 17^th. 

                Imagine my surprise when I made the quarter finals, the judge ranking my script in the top 6 percent of the competition.  Then I made the semi-finals, the judging putting me in the top 40 scripts.  A couple weeks ago, I made the finals in which my little tale was ranked the 13^th best script out of the thousand.  If the winners’ judge ranks the script in the top 24%, I should be one of the six winners; if in the top 11%, I may well be one of the top three scripts that go to an agent. 

                That would be my dream.  Assuming I’m lucky enough to win and assuming even more that I’m lucky enough to land the right kind of agent, that would be my liberation.  To finally have some industry professional in my life who could advise me on how to refine a script, to whom I can pitch ideas, who can set me up with meetings, who would be willing to work with me not only on screenplays but also book ideas, both fiction and non-fiction, and of course of utmost importance, negotiate the sale of a project when it’s ready.  Such is what I’ve been working towards all my life. 

                Any day now I’ll be getting the judge’s report and will see where my ranking is.  Being 13 out of 26 finalists, I am already at the 50% mark so I need only be elevated another 26% to be a winner.  But March 17^th is when the official announcement comes and then I will know for sure. 

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                But Ash Wednesday The Script is not my only liberation.  I’m still hoping my new career as a financial adviser will send me along another fruitful path, another one I’ve been yearning for my entire career.  For the past year, I had been gearing up to begin the formal 14-month formal program that began four weeks ago but my slip-and-fall accident on the ice on January 11^th changed those plans as well.  As noted in my last posting, classes started on February 1^st and I thought as late as January 31^st that it was still a go and then just hours before it would have been official, I was advised to withdraw from the program as I continue to recover from my rather severe injury.  The prognosis until the end of January was that I would be out of circulation until at least April 1^st.  On Monday I saw the doctor for my one-month follow-up and got a glowing report.

                Yes, it is still April 1^st before I will be able to do most things, but June 1^st now before I get full function back.  But the real liberation is that I’ve gotten the green light to drive again.  Paul came over on Sunday night for the Oscars and was kind enough to take me on a quick excursion to the grocery store, my first run for fruits and veggies since January 11^th.  That’s the difficulty of not having wheels; you can no longer do so many essential things we all take for granted.  Seven weeks without groceries, it felt very good to get some real food in the house Sunday night.  Then on Monday, the doctor gave me back my keys.  I’m taking it easy, only doing short trips around Keego this week.  Last night I took Val to Ash Wednesday services and it hurts to press my hands against the steering wheel.  That the doctor says is what will take the longest to heal, the muscles and tissues that you use when pushing against something.  The most difficult thing still to do is the simple act of lifting myself up off a chair.  I cannot put hardly any pressure on my left hand at all. 

                But we’re fixing that.  I have all new exercises to do during the next month including a return to my workouts with an emphasis on the pushups, starting with wall pushups and working up to knee pushups until I can do the real thing again.  But it will be at least June 1^st before I am able to do the real thing again, though my instructions are to do as much as I can as long as it’s not excruciating.  It will be at least June 1^st before I can do everything again, perhaps longer, perhaps a great deal longer. 

                The good news is that she is sufficiently impressed with my self-discipline that she is not sending me for physical therapy having complete confidence that my self-imposed therapy will be more than enough.  The bad news (and it’s not that bad) is that there is a time limit for how long I can work on these muscles.  June 1^st is also sort of a drop-dead date, anything I have not achieved in terms of flexibility and strength by June 1^st will be a very long time coming after that, perhaps never.  So she’s encouraging to push myself hard during the next three months.  However, we both agree I can do it and probably sooner than June 1^st.  In fact, I would not be surprised if I don’t have full function again in the next four weeks.  I guarantee one thing – if it doesn’t happen, it won’t be from lack of effort. 

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                So for this week I’ve been liberated to drive again.  Another liberation is that I need no longer be concerned about another slip and fall.  She says I have healed so well that I am no longer in danger of injuring my arm again.  I have a great big six inch metal plate running up my arm so nothing is going to break it again.  I have the green light to walk on snow and ice again without consequence.  I can slip and fall on the ice again now without breaking it.  I’ve also been given the go-ahead to lift as much weight as I can stand.  I managed to get through 63 years without falling so I don’t anticipate this ever happening again.  It’s just nice to know that I won’t be in serious trouble again if it does. 

                There are a myriad of health issues I’ve been dealing with as a consequence of lacking ambulation and activity so this past month has been very challenging in terms of energy and the ability to get just about anything done.  It’s only the last few days that I’ve been able to get my left hand close enough to my mouth to even brush my teeth.  And even that much hurts quite a lot.  I certainly can’t get a razor up there yet so, rather than risk cutting myself to ribbons, I’ve got a beard again until my arm is completed healed.  She’s put me at 85% right now and, again, June 1^st to get to 100%, though I’m hoping it comes sooner. 

                At least I have wheels again.  I don’t have to be dependent on Val any more for every little thing.  I can now get the cat to the vet, I can go to the post office, I can start getting meals again, start taking meetings and appointments again.  And take some much needed time just to contemplate the future.  I’m spending March pushing a complete recovery and sorting this out, getting my personal business in order, getting started on the next script, and studying the finance books. 

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                Come April I will embark on the mission of developing the new life plan, see if I can meet with my mentor in the CFP to formulate the next step.  The director of the program has advised to leave Oakland University and pursue the CFP at another school that does not assume experience in the industry (though it does boggle my mind that they even bother teaching at all if you’re assumed to already know all the stuff.  But that’s another discussion.)  The recommendations are for the online programs at either Kaplan University or National University.  I’m wondering if my mentor will agree with that as a preferred plan, especially given all the months we’ve spent together with him complimenting my exemplary background.  I’m wondering if my mentor will agree to continue mentoring me.  I’m wondering if he will continue to work with me in the internship program.  Or is all this now null and void if I’m pursuing the certification elsewhere?  I will email him in a couple weeks to request a meeting to discuss these questions.  I’m interested to see if he will even respond. 

                So this Ash Wednesday has been the first Ash Wednesday at which I’ve been liberated from “Ash Wednesday.”  And this week I’m liberated from being homebound, something that has not been at all pleasant.  I’m hoping to have more liberation events in the months ahead.