Work v Private

Was meant to do a post on this a while back, but better late then never.

The division between work and private life. There’re a few different sides to this, be it how much of yourself you give away at work (discussing family, friends, boy/girlfriends openly with colleagues/superiors, coming in tired because your private life is taking a toll on work, being stressed or unfocused due to things going on outside of your work sphere).

 

Someone once said they were able to completely separate the two, that they could come into work each morning and shut off everything that was not directly relevant. Whether they were going through a divorce, or had just had the happiest day of their life, they could just ignore it completely.

Personally I don’t think it’s that easy, or that cutting the two apart is necessarily the right choice. There’s a fine balance, where you have to remember that not everybody you work with is also your ‘friend’, and the other way around too. It’s important to keep a professional distance, because fair or not you render yourself vulnerable and there are sides that will influence your work-persona in other people’s eyes.

This doesn’t of course mean you should go full bi-polar and alternate your personalities or anything quite as dramatic, just remember to keep a small protective wall up. In particular, as a girl, the strength or focus you exude to the rest of the crew can suddenly be vital for your progressing career. Equally, don’t put a lid on everything. Be open and share what feels comfortable, and be human. Don’t shut out emotions, or forget that everyone in the office are, indeed people. Just be wise… Making the tabloid isn’t good news, but while Anna Wintour is stupidly successful… that’s not necessarily the path to being well-liked by the rest of the production office.

There is, however, the remaining question of how you balance all this without a) at some point having one said break over slightly (this will happen, you’ll deal with it, and move on gracefully), or b) you loose some part of yourself because work v private become too separate.

Thinking out loud… It’s one of those mornings.

 

xo

 

‘P’

Pilots, webisodes and production crew

Just been scrolling through the promos for the 2011/12 pilot pick-ups, and I must say some of them look rather intriguing (with my luck, cue cancellation, but hey!).

‘Once Upon a Time‘ in particular features fairytales mixing with reality in a grim and dark twisty setting that, shockingly, looks like it might work! Have a look for yourselves!

 

The rest of the mish-mash ranges from terribly worrying (sorry Drew, but those Angels just feel a bit… cliched) to oddly confusing yet intriguing (‘Revenge’) and back to yum, love it (‘New Girl’ featuring a hilariously insane Zoey Deschanel)!

So there’s something to look forward to next season, and some good inspiration to get back on the writing track (three weeks booked off to do just that coming up, must love the world of working in seasonal TV sometimes!!).

On the topic of pilots and filmmaking though, was forwarded the link to a mini web-series by a friend who was acquainted with the lead actress. You know those moments where you soul search as thoroughly as you can, yet nothing positive springs to mind beyond “well there were no spelling errors in the credits!”? One of those… I believe my reply included a small memo about the creative bitch inside me was severely offended, and my eyes hurt.

I’m scared I’m turning into one of THOSE people, who read scripts and throw them at the walls with angry post it notes saying ‘No, No NOOO! That’s blasphemy!’ on them.

 

Seriously though, see for yourselves…

 

Lots of summer love

 

xoxo

‘P’