Lessons From An Extraordinary Year

It is no secret that I am a life-long learner and this year offered plenty of opportunities to learn and to introspect. As we draw the curtains on twelve months like no other, I reflect on what they have taught me. This is by no means an exhaustive list but only my top-of-mind recollection.

1. Now is as good a time as any. This year, more than any other I had occasion to remember my mother-in-law's practice of not mentioning tomorrow for fear of jinxing it. She would only ever say 'if I'm still alive' instead of 'tomorrow'. This idea that there may not be a tomorrow, drove me to take chances without emphasis on the outcome.
2. No one is googling you as much as you are. In summer, I wrote and produced a live online show without ever having done anything like that before. Everything that could go wrong did (one of the actors had no wifi until 5 minutes before the show!) and I was slated in a review. But once I'd shared the review widely in my circle, I'd diminished its power over me, and the fear that someone might google my name and chance upon this review no longer held sway. So much so I'm even able to write about it here without fear or recrimination. Imagine if I'd let it shame me into never trying anything new again. Wouldn't that be the real failure?
3. Perfection is an illusion. Early in the lockdown, when I asked my boss Dominique Unsworth if we should perhaps park the project I was working on with schools and revisit it in September, she dismissed the idea without a second thought. She said that the pandemic had presented us with a unique opportunity like no other to draw upon what we know, to work with what we have, and to respond to the needs that had arisen. It struck me that I had been wedded to an unrealistic illusion of perfection of how the project should be delivered and once I freed myself from it, suddenly everything became much clearer. The focus shifted from what we were offering to what was required by the beneficiaries, in this case, the schools we were working with. In the end, what we delivered was different from what we had planned but it was no less impactful. This crucial bit of learning is one I have carried into my own creative practice.
4. There's an ocean of learning. This year, spending so much time looking at a screen meant I was spoilt for choice when it came to learning. Despite disruptions, I completed my Masters degree, passing with a distinction. But there were other informal courses that I attended during the year, including a rich array of Masterclasses with industry experts that ScreenSkills had on offer. I also signed up to become a mentor with them and was able to share some of my learning with someone who was just embarking on her career. FutureLearn's wide range of courses was another draw for me. Global Voices Theatre's excellent 4-week course drew participants from all over the world and introduced me to fresh and fearless voices from under-represented backgrounds writing plays that were a far cry from the hegemony of the traditional schools of playwrighting. Informally, I learnt Photoshop basics via Youtube and more recently, reconnected with my Tamil teacher from school for weekly lessons in Tamil literature. I have been able to draw upon all the learning to inform my work. It has also made me more aware of how much there is to learn and how finite my time is to learn it in.

Now more than ever, I am conscious of just how lucky I have been and how grateful I am for all that I have. And an acute awareness how quickly it can be lost. Here's to another interesting year full of learning opportunities. Onwards!