Well...........its October

Hello my people/family/friends/minions/creepy internet stalkers!

Wow so much stuff has happened since I last wrote on here. Yes I know it's been far too long but if any of you know me then you must have realised how lazy I can be at times. Well, I guess I should fill you in.

I got my grades at the end of August. Not fantastic but I don't feel that I underprepared. Besides, they were still good enough to get me accepted into a couple of good universities. Offers that I quickly declined so that I could move onto the celebratory drinking.

September was brilliant. Most of my friends left for university and sadly I didn't get to say goodbye to as many as I wanted to. Why is it that you are always busy at the most inconvenient times?? But anyway, I got on with my life and by my life I mean Les Miserable. The performance in the last week of September was fantastic and definitely worth all the effort and illness that had come from months of rehearsal. It was easily one of the best experiences of my life. I've always enjoyed acting and performing but this was probably the first time in my life that I've realised that I actually love it. For the first time ever I was booed during my bow on stage by someone who had clearly seen too many Pantomimes. As I was playing the bad guy I'd say that meant I did alright. Although, I personally like to think of Javert as more misunderstood than bad.

I suppose this leads me onto the other significant thing that has happened in the last month or so. In the last three weeks my plans for my acting future have changed dramatically (no pun intended.......oh screw it I meant to say it now laugh!). I am no longer moving back to Australia to attend NIDA or WAAPA. I know it is shocking (this is the part where you all gasp dramatically.......I've also been working on my stage direction). You'd think after all the complaining that I've done about this country, its society, its politics and its downright dreadful food that I would be first to get out of here, but apparently not. Instead, I've decided it would be much more dramatic and spectacular to gamble against the odds for my future and stay in England. Getting into Drama school is hard enough anywhere in the world but I have so many reasons to be staying here. From a career perspective London is the place to be. In terms of applicants per places, London actually holds better odds for me getting into a course than anywhere else and looking further ahead the West End, the BBC and more Shakespeare companies than you can imagine means more hope for my career. There are more jobs here than in Australia and more chance of actually landing them than in LA. So it would appear that, for once in my life, I have made a logical decision.

I'm sure there a million reasons not to do this of course and I have thought of all of them, but I see no reason to concentrate on them. One of the main reasons I'm staying is the emotional aspect of it all. My family live in England, my friends live in England and my life is, subsequently, in England. I'm happy here so why should I give it up? I think too often people sacrifice happiness for success. These days I see people constantly being put in a position where they have to choose between the happiness of having a family or success in their profession. Given that decision I would take happiness any day. I deliberately chose a career path that would make me happy rather than a desk job I know I would regret. Why should I sacrifice happiness in order to ultimately achieve it? It would just seem like going backwards to me.

I know I'm quite literally jeopardising my education and subsequently my future by staying in England but at the same time I am willing and perfectly able to work hard to achieve both and I think it will be worth it in the end. When you opt for a career in acting or performance of any kind, no matter where you are, you have to be prepared for the fact that it won't be easy. Even if I did move back to Australia and take the safer course, I would still be faced with a huge uphill struggle to gain success. I'd just rather be around the people who love and support me while I do it.

Regardless of what the future brings, I am happy at the moment and I don't see that changing soon. I will be off on a holiday back home in Australia in a couple of weeks and I look forward to seeing family and friends. This gap year is going to be hectic but awesome. I just hope I have time to write on here about it more often.

Till next time.....