Imagine realizing that Virigina Woolf
Walked the streets of London
As you are doing
You knew it as a fact in the back of your mind somewhere
Virginia Woolf lived in London
But to suddenly encounter it
To be living it is a whole other matter
To know that she once stood beneath the arches of the British Museum
And looked up at the names inscribed into the walls
And thought,
All this knowledge! How will I ever come to terms with it?
And to sit reading
A Room of One’s Own
Whilst sitting in a room of one’s own!
In London! 
Is entirely novel
And wonderful and funny and joyous.
 
Because six years ago
You read Mrs Dalloway
And looked at women and fiction
And you never even imagined 
Even for a moment
That one day
You would have a room of one’s own.
And the best bit? 
The glorious romance novel cliche of it?
Reading the writings of Viriginia Woolf
In your very own window seat
Overlooking the garden
Overlooking the rooftops of London
And you are independent 
And you are free to speak your mind
And perform upon the stage 
And write
And do exactly as you please.

And you thank all the people who have bought you here. 
And you thank Virginia Woolf for paving the way for women writers (even if her end was tragic). 
And you think of all the women that didn’t, and still don’t, have this privilege. 
And you resolve to keep writing. And keep singing. And keep acting. And hope that you too can make a difference.

The end. 

Many philosophers have agreed 
That in order to be happy
People need to be gainfully employed
And now that I’ve been unemployed
For the past six months
I understand this more than ever
I’ve never had trouble getting work until now
Being a student
Living in London during a recession
Times are tough
It’s the best of times 
It’s the worst of times 
And is it a portal into my future?
Choosing a career where I am likely to be
unemployed for long spells of time
Every actor goes through it
I remember reading Michael Caine’s autobiography
And his depression at watching his friends get jobs around him
His friends not get jobs around him
The despair
And the heartache
And coming to London and giving up everything
I’ve ever known
To be living in the hope of the next job
And when I finally get even a tiny bit of work
The relief, the satisfaction
Spending an evening with lovely people
Well-heeled folk with a passion for supporting the arts
The student-actors gathered around the left-overs
Living the bohemian dream
The reality is so much tougher 
Much scarier when you’re not sure how you’ll meet the next rent
Pay for next week’s groceries or travel pass
Because you’re living on sheer determination and hope 
And praying praying praying that all this 
Despair and heartache will be totally completely worth it 
When one day you can say you’re earning your living as a performer
I am an actor
I am living the dream
And it’s even better than I could have imagined
The end.