I did something enormously difficult today. I hit the “Like” button on a Facebook post. Not just any Facebook post – the post of a person who is getting something I truly want. As a screenwriter, I have a whole lot of friends who are also screenwriters, ranging from “wrote the #1 movie of the weekend” to “just had to get a day job to pay the rent.” 

My own struggle and benchmark used to be getting my work produced (by someone other than me). I wanted a movie on a screen with my name as the writer on a production where I didn’t have to rent any of the equipment. 

That happened with Memories of Christmas. I thought that would set my screenwriting career for a good long time, with multiple projects across a number of buyers, but alas…it’s still the same struggle it’s always been. Trying to get into the right rooms with the right people and the right project, made substantially worse right now, as companies and producers have no idea when they will be able to produce anything they buy.

So, it turns out, a friend who is at my exact same career level has a movie going forward into production. And I am happy for him. Truly. And at the same time, a little sad for me. 

But that’s okay. 
We’re all still human beings, after all.

What I don’t wish is that it was me instead of him. I wish it were both of us, and if it has to be not me, then I’m glad it’s him.

That’s part of my ongoing quest to be happy – being happy for other people, even when I’m a little blue…and green.