Last week I had to admit defeat and ask for help with my website; I had been struggling to make sense of all the information that I need it to hold and convey, so I engaged an expert. I think it was a great decision and out of all the people I could have found I was lucky to find the patient and kind Melanie Vendette in Toronto, and she has been simply brilliant.
We all know that websites prefer to focus on one overall idea and tell one clear story. They trade in Unique Selling Points. I tried to get all the critical information on my home page, I really did, but this wasn’t working. Melanie told me to relax and explained that I should embrace the complexity of my life, I am, like all of us, a complicated person with many selves, and I have had many lives.
So, I have spent a happy week trying to untangle my many selves, and I have decided to dust off one or two of my old personas – my radio self and my Shakespeare self. For five years I presented my own radio show – Amelia’s Culture Show on Riviera FM Radio in South Devon. I loved it, and it is one of the few things I miss doing since I left the UK and relocated to the Carinthian region of Southern Austria.
When I was 29, I quit my job, as a Unix computer operator, and went read for an MA in Shakespeare Studies in Stratford-upon-Avon. It was a pretty crazy thing to do, or so many people told me, but I am happy that I did it. That was another time and another self. In 2014 when the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birthday came spinning around, I could not resist making a special radio show with an in-depth look at the work of two composers associated with Shakespeare on Film: William Walton and Patrick Doyle.
As I write this, most of the world is in the grip of the problems and privations that the Coronavirus is enforcing upon us. Many of you may be housebound, in isolation and feeling, as I do, rather anxious, or perhaps you have too much time on your hands? So, please allow me to share with you my Shakespeare at 450 radio piece which I wrote simply because of my love of Shakespeare. I hope that it brings some of you some enjoyment, solace and even some comfort. Just follow the link to my Soundcloud account and you will find my programme there. If you have any problems doing this just let me know.
In the spirit of community and solidarity, could you spare five minutes to drop me a line and tell me about one or two of your previous lives? How many lives or careers have you had? Also, if you have a moment, you can check out some of my other selves on my new fancy website. My new friend in Toronto will be delighted! Please don't forget to listen for free to my radio broadcast about Shakespeare and the Film:
https://soundcloud.com/amelia-marriette-977049164/shakespeare-450- written-and-presented-by-amelia-marrietteMy upcoming book tour in Devon, Malvern and Stratford-upon-Avon for my book Walking into Alchemy: the Transformative Power of Nature has been postponed until December 2020. Please visit www.ameliamarriette.com for more information.
#shakespeare #shakespeareonfilm #henryv #asyoulikeit #patrickdoyle #williamwalton #muchadoaboutnothing #howmanylives #coronavirussolidarity
I love learning too!
You are welcome. I've always regarded life as an opportunity to learn, and have been lucky that my life gave me many opportunities to learn in various situations. It's been fun.
Wow! Clare what an amazing and fulfilling life you have had. 30 jobs? That's amazing. But what fantastic transferable skills you acquired. I am truly impressed. Thank you for sharing.
I was brought up a Jehovah's Witness, but as a teen I left home and did 30 jobs by the time I was thirty. I studied while driving buses, although I'd left home when my father left came back and refused to give a small amount towards my grant to ho to Oxford, where Id had a place. The pay was good for driving a busm and the old drivers made a fuss of me as I was only 21. Once qualified I met a man who was was a newspaper sub-editor and I moved to London, where I worked for a national medical charity for 22 years. Finally, to my relief, we returned home to Devon on retirement. …