It’s been a tough two years. My life does not look like it did back at the start. It feels like little piles of rubble that I have to walk around or dig through to find what I used to take for granted.

Can I rebuild yet?

Hold that. Rewind. I don’t wait for permission to get what I need. Not anymore. I will get things back to working order. For me.

I’m not the first to live in the wreckage of what used to be. Lots of people walk around and through ruins. Needs must be served.

Things that once were can be made anew.

It’s time to start building. I’ve done it before.

The good news is, I don’t have to do it alone. As hard as it is to believe, there really are people who can help. There are people who want to help.

It was in my acting Improv classes I learned how to trust other people who were there with me. I’d been writing my stories alone for a long time. It turns out to be a lot more interesting—not to mention more fun—if other people pitch in.

I am a people. I came to build a scene. And there, on that practice stage, other people came to build too. We looked at each other—Can we do this? Shall we try? I had the desire but not much else to start with.

‘Bring a brick’ they taught us. Speak up. Say something that gets things started. Maybe it will be a mistake. But we are all in this together, and someone has to start it. Make a decision. Make a big choice

“This way!” I can say. The other guy might take it in a different direction than I imagined, but if we stay in the action together it keeps moving and it becomes real.

I need it to be real. I need the help. I know things can be fixed. We can rebuild it better than before.

I’m going to start.