EVIL endings

 Evil: 2nd to last ep of the entire series. This morning in Bucaramanga I woke up and cut some fresh fruit and had a delicious changua, which is a Colombian breakfast stew of potatoes, cilantro, broth, and an egg. Then I drank some coffee harvested directly from the surrounding foggy mountains. Afterward I went upstairs, checked the second to last EVIL script one more time, trimmed a few additional pages off with my co-writer, Sarah. Then I hit 'send' on the email with the attached script. Feels weird. 5 yrs, 3 of which overlapped with "The Good Fight." And then there was a feeling of absence followed by  melancholy. Something ending. 

On the last season of TGF, I was in London in a friend's flat for the first part, Capetown, South Africa for the middle part, and then hopping between Bacelona, Reykjavik, NYC, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Vancouver, Edmonton, Montreal for the latter half. I thought we were done so I took off again before being called back into the zoom room for some additional work when I was hanging out with Ron in Zagreb, Croatia, Ljublana, Slovenia, and then our final stop in Vienna. I would like to think that the traveling while working added some diff spice and perspective to what I was pitching/writing. 

For this last mini-season of EVIL, I tried to stay at my personal HQ's of NYC and Miami. I turned down an offer to go back to Cape Town to do research for a new project in January b/c I wanted to stay put and appear to be a respectable hardworker who wasn't traveling to balance personal fun with writing. I intended on being dutiful committed to my desk and the usual comforts. The job market is scary for writers. I shouldn't stick out or be ostentatious in my enjoyments. This was practical, sane advice that I took to heart...until the powerful persuasion of one piece altered me. On Feb 23rd I saw Dael Olandersmith's SPIRITUS/VIRGIL'S DANCE at Rattlestick Theatre. The one-person show was about death. It dived into the world of nyc morticians, funeral directors, hospice workers, and end-of-life doulas. 

In the talkback after the show, Dael was joined on stage by actual hospice workers, doulas, and people who worked for nyc dealing with the unclaimed dead. An audience member asked the panelists what they have observed about ppl toward the end of their lives? 

The hospice workers said that most people -regardless of income, background, race, or religions- were profoundly disappointed. Most of the dying feel like they didn't do more things for their spirit or curiosities. Most ppl regretted spending too much time working in an office, not enough time with family, not enough time exploring/adventuring, trying new things. And most of the patients realized that the tradeoff of money for their time...was not worth it. The far more precious thing was their time but they only realized this spiritual understanding as their time was running out. It seemed like the hospice worker was talking directly to me. I was shook and turned to my friend and said "I think I have made a decision about something." 

I emailed Sam a few days later "you said that Dublin was cool. You want to go back? And could I join you?" He was taken aback. He hadn't planned on going but 'why the hell not?' Sure. Bet. Then I call Tatiana and asked her what she was up to? In Morocco and then coming back through London and thinking about going to Colombia. "Can I join you?" 

So a few weeks later, I'm in Dublin and Sam telling me about a NYC rabbi who has a lot of billionaires at his synagogue. The rabbi told him that most of his rich congregants are profoundly unhappy. They spend all their time managing their money. "You're more happy than most of them," the rabbi told Sam. 

I feel like the signs are pointing in the same direction. Whether it's the genius of Dael Olandersmith or Sam or Tatiana or a panel of hospice workers or your friend local rabbi. 

So I hit send this morning on Evil script in an unexpected place and hour with a belly full of changua and Colombian coffee. And then looked at some airbnb's in Mexico City b/c...maybe? Maybe this is something to do before heading back to NYC. Feel the melancholy of this great show ending in a different place.