I just wanted to SLEEP!
Creative people are addicted to doing creative things; they have to be involved with something that feeds their creative cravings OFTEN! They’re like junkies that need a fix. But when I was going through my divorce I was so depressed that I had no desire to even so much as look at a paintbrush let alone do a painting. In addition to my depression I also COULDN’T SLEEP! I had gone about 6 months completely sleep deprived, and going stark raving nuts because of it – I wanted to sleep sooooooo badly!
So I put the word out that I was looking for a job where I could be really physical all day long, because I wanted to get so exhausted everyday that I could just go home and simply collapse into a deep slumber – then wake up the next day and do it all over again. One of my friends came through for me when she heard that an event production company was hiring people.
It turned out to be one of the best jobs for me during that insane period of my life, because it killed two birds with one stone. I got to “work out” really hard all day long and get my "creative fix" by creating a bunch of temporary smoke and mirror fantasies for businesses, weddings, concerts, and outrageously expensive parties. I got to build and tear down tents, stages, climb up and down ladders to decorate for fancy events, and build all sorts of crazy props like faux rock walls, and giant 5’ tall Christmas Ornaments.
I remember when my boss gave me the assignment to build a 10’ tall Faux Rock Wall that would be light enough to transport in 4’ wide sections (with only two weeks to build it). My first thought was, “Is she Crazy? It can’t be done!” But then again anything during my “Year of Divorce” that kept me working long hours so that I could sleep was just fine with me. So… with no idea of how I would make a fake rock wall in two short weeks I said to my boss, if you give me the money for the supplies to build it – consider it done.
All of the crazy projects were great for keeping my mind off of all the negative stuff that I was dealing with in my personal life, plus I got to work with an awesome crew out in the field. I didn’t get paid much, but in every other way it was just the right medicine that I needed to put me to sleep.
Occasionally we got to attend some of the parties that we decorated for, too, which was a nice perk. It was nice to have something fun to do – especially since outside of work was so dismal.
The Rock Wall got rave reviews. Each stone was hand carved out of Styrofoam by me and a whole crew of workers who had never done anything like that before, either.
Boy, when I mentioned in an earlier blog entry, called "Obos Moment - painting", that rocks had become increasingly prevalent in my life since my separation, I hadn’t even thought about the fake rock wall being part of that scenario until just now. Too funny!
I even got to use one of my paintings “Mother & Child” in one of the rock wall displays above the fake fireplace mantle at a big Holiday Party.
Ironically, it was sort of strange building things and breaking them down everyday. I thought about that often when I was working. I couldn’t help but relate it to my marriage. In those 15 years of marriage we had built so much together – businesses, homes, our family, and so much more. On the outside it looked great ……… Smoke & Mirrors. Yet it seemed that it all came down in a day. One reeeeeeeally looooooong, sleepless, horrible, painful, seemingly endless day. I’m glad that day finally ended.
Interestingly enough, All of it……”ALL OF IT”… everything in my past, in one way or another, prepared me for today... Plan B
"The most successful people are those who are good at plan B." James York
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