Throwing 3 caps over the wall.

In the West Wing, President Bartlet has a barnstorming speech which contained the story about "the Irish lads whose journey was blocked by a brick wall seemingly too high to scale. Throwing their caps over the wall the lads had no choice but to follow."

I've reached the point at the moment when it's time to "throw my cap over the wall", to take action and get moving on a few projects: to get my newsletter going, rent new business premises to coach from, and organise a Christchurch Creative's Meet Up.

In that spirit, here's a few quotes on commitment and courage to get out there.

"Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it" Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Indecision is the leading cause of roadkill." T Harv Ecker, quoted by Michelle Schubnel

"Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides" attrib Margaret Thatcher *.

"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare. It is because we do not dare that they are difficult" Seneca

"You will do foolish things, so do them with enthusiasm" Colette

It's going to be a great week!

*I wouldn't often quote Maggie - I think Brian Walden summed her up: "Her strong points were her iron will. I've never known a will like it in politics and I've known a few politicians in my time in various countries. I've never known a man or woman faintly like her, she was as tough as they come, and anything that required guts and will she could do for you. Anything that required sensitivity, she couldn't, she had none."

I spent 3 weeks operating lighting and sound on a production of Sink the Belgrano, a blank-verse play by Stephen Berkoff, featuring the character Maggot Scratcher, based on Thatcher, and it didn't show her in a good light. The play itself was excellent, a great cast, superbly well acted - one of the best things I ever saw on the fringe, although sadly the audiences were small - even with a good review in Time Out. (That's fodder for another post, on how Theatre Companies take the "Product Concept" in marketing rather than a "Marketing" or "Societal Marketing" concept.)