Making your own luck

Intention or magic? Probably, a bit of both

Welcome to this issue of the J Mail, a weekly newsletter exploring creativity, culture and acts of care - mostly from a theatre lens, but with some literature, psychology and science thrown in. If you can, please consider becoming a paid sub. For as little as £3.81 each month - the price of a posh coffee - you can get all the juice each week and support my work as a writer. Thank you so much for being here. You make this letter what it is - my favourite place on the internet.

A ceramic lucky cat made by an artist in Margate

Last week, I had some very exciting news that I'm desperate to share in this letter. But, engagingly, I'm not allowed to yet. It was about a project I've been developing for some years, and now it's moved onto the next stage. (Apologies for being so elliptical - I think that's the most I can say…)

When I received this news, I was delighted. And I felt very lucky. This idea of mine, this project I am very passionate about, is moving out of my brain into the world. And it got me thinking about the notion of luck.

As I say, I've been working on this project for some years. As a freelance theatre maker, I often have many pots going (or plates spinning, whatever you prefer) at once. If you’re also freelance, I’m sure this feeling will be familiar. You never know what’s going to come off - so you have to have a few things cooking.

I’m used to this feeling. I’ve spoken here before about how much I love pitching. But somehow, with this project, I felt sort of… relaxed? I started working on it about four years ago and there was some really positive noise around it to begin with. Which made me think, well - now it will just happen.

So I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And - of course - it didn’t just happen. Nothing just happens. Instead, the project I loved languished in a digital drawer on my desktop and I felt sad and frustrated. After all - as my regular collaborators know I love to say, you can’t eat praise. All the noise initially around this idea wasn’t worth anything if it never went further.

Furthermore - I make work for audiences. Not for readers. And this particular idea had only ever been read.

So, at the end of last year, I set an intention: that this project would go to the next stage in 2025. And now, it looks like that is actually happening. What a piece of luck -right?

There’s a lot of chat knocking about on the power of manifestation, the law of attraction. Whatever floats your boat. For me, with this project, it certainly wasn’t just thinking about it which made it happen. Wishing it to happen. Saying affirmations about it - though there’s lots that is good about all those things.

No. It was taking clear, concrete action to take the project forward. Here’s what I did:

1. I found collaborators I loved who wanted to work on the project as much as I did.

This was key. When I set the intention to move the project on in 2025, it was late 2024. I met with a bunch of independent producers and found a partnership who are completely brilliant. Not only did they really get the project - we really vibed creatively and they were a great match in terms of enthusiasm and energy. I hope this will be a long collaboration between us. Even if the project hadn’t moved forward at all, finding this relationship would have been a huge win.

2. We spread our net wide

We’d identified a few different homes for the project and we pursued them all at once. In the past, I’ve been a bit more tentative about this - not wanting to piss off a potential partner by chasing other potential partners at the same time. But, if you’re honest and you have integrity about this, there’s nothing wrong with it. And if you believe in the project, you know it deserves to be considered by many people. This definitely speeded up the process.

3. I listened to notes and I actioned them

When I pitched the project to different partners, there was some fairly serious notes I got on it. Now, as creative, I love notes. I think they’re always interesting, even if they are bad - in fact, I might write a newsletter around my relationship with notes (and criticism) if people would find it useful.

So, I received several sets of notes from the potential partners and I actioned them all. I tossed out the ones I didn’t like - but only after I had tried them. The net result was a much, much better piece of work, which leads me to…

4. I chose a project that I love, and I want to spend lots of time returning to

Setting a hardcore intention like this only works on a project that you absolutely love. I was fitting in these big notes around my other work which meant I was actioning them without being paid, squeezing them in when I was on Eurostar platforms, or early in the morning before rehearsal, or when I felt extremely sad and not at all like writing.

But the key thing was - I love this project. I love getting to spend time with the characters. They’re up there with my favourite imaginary friends. I always want to know what they’ll think of a new idea or offering I have for them. So the notes felt like a holiday from my actual brain. (How healthy is this? I’m not sure…)

5. We were prepared to back our enthusiasm with bravery

Finally, as a team, once we were offered the next stage of the project, we were all prepared to be brave. What wound up happening was the project levelled up faster than any of us were prepared for! And if we weren’t up for being brave, we couldn’t have accepted the opportunity when it cropped up.

I feel so proud of this project - especially of the team that is working on it. And I can’t wait to share it with you when I’m allowed to talk about it more freely in a few weeks. It really is a dream come true.

In the mean time - I’m opening ELEPHANT at the Menier Chocolate Factory on Thursday. I’m so proud of the show - and it has two brand new songs.

More info and tickets here: https://www.menierchocolatefactory.com/tickets/elephant/

Thanks for reading, right to the end. You’re brilliant.

See you next week.

J x