I’ve been in plays, TV, and movies. I enjoy playng a part, being a person somebody has invented, that isn’t me. But in ‘real life’, I write and play my own script; my own lines. I am nobody’s puppet, nobody’s slave, nobody’s servant. I revel in my role, which stresses independence, integrity, and autonomy. Sure, sometimes it has to include disaster, pain, defeats, and rejections, but I am still in charge.
One’s script may be drama, comedy, tragedy, or soap opera. Whatever it may be, it’s worth while playing one’s role as well as one is able. One is producer, director, and actor all at once
When something destructive happens, such as a bushfire or a tornado which destroys your home, it’s a severe blow. But even with only the clothes you stand up in, most decisions remain up to you.
I am about to make a very serious change in my own script. At 83 I have applied for residence in an ‘aged care residential facility’ with my partner who is classified as elegible for ‘high level residential care’. I’m rated as elegible for ‘low level residential care’, and we may both be able to move in. It means selling our home and most of our possessions, finding homes for our cats, and learning a new and different life style. Soap opera or tradgedy? It’s up to us!
Me in a stage episode of ‘Are You Being Served?’
Malcolm Miller's Poems 