I have successfully written for two weeks in a row! Each time I wrote very little, but it was something!  I am blessed to have a job and to be able to support myself as a writer.  God is so good.

I think one of the reasons high school was such an impressionable time for all of us, is that it gave us so many labels. Jock, nerd, Goth, geek, valedictorian, druggie, loser…we didn’t get to know everyone, but we classified them by the way we saw them, what they did, or who they spent time with. Those labels become so much a part of us that over time, we believed them, even if they weren’t the way we saw ourselves, or wanted to be seen.

We have a hard time re-classifying ourselves, or simply living as ourselves without a classification. God is the one who knows who we truly can be, and encourages us to live as ourselves in integrity, faith, and hope, while also changing our habits to become more like Him. That isn’t easy. But isn’t it worth it, if what we gain is maturity, new adventures, and a new outlook on life? The chance to start over is a chance that few of us in life actually take.

In the course of writing this show, I’m finding that it’s not so much about enduring friendships, but about the point at which friendship ends.

Friendship is complicated in this age; it involves virtual messaging and Facebook-poking (if anyone does that anymore), and it’s a lot easier now to hide from people. To remain a true, visible and influential friend in someone’s life requires a lot of effort, mutual trust, and selflessness.

Rejection, bullying, and the tender spirits of young people.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-mom-girl-who-was-bullied-showed-no-signs-of-wanting-to-harm-self-20111118,0,668326.story

In some ways we never really grow up…

http://www.salon.com/2011/11/15/interview_with_my_bully_the_mean_girl_i_cant_forget/

Reconciliation and forgiveness are possible…even forgetfulness is, eventually, possible. Grace and mercy are bigger than we are, and will ultimately drown our sins. I take great solace from that, but it’s not a quick fix. May we be mindful of our words and our judgments…

This show is dark.  It’s about suicide, depression, love, marriage, adultery, pain, prayer, friendship, and Jesus.

It doesn’t have that much to do with money, although that does become a focal point for some of the characters. 

Really, it’s about friendship. How deep should friendship go? What lengths should we be willing to go to in order to keep our friends from stumbling, or just to keep our friends? What about the line where friendship turns into something else?

CAST OF CHARACTERS
Adam: actor.  always broke.  electrically talented.
Josh: a brooder.  a writer.  melancholy.  has fallen for Karis.
Karis: super-nice.  gets sucked into other people’s orbits easily.  struggles with guilt. future doctor.
Peter: entrepreneur.  brilliant.  a networker.  has the plan.
Josh’s mother:  grieves, but not without hope.
Renae: dramatic, an adult, grandiose, darkly funny.