Sometimes a sign...

You will recall that week before last I teased a new project by dithering about which WASTE BOOK I should use to start planning it. I’m still not ready to announce what the project is — it may never come to fruition — but I thought you might appreciate this little bit of serendipity.

As you might imagine, my study is a wondrous jumble of stuff: raw materials, semi-finished projects, flotsam, jetsam, on and on it goes. As I started working in my new WASTE BOOK [N.B.: I WAS FROZEN IN FEAR BEFORE STARTING TO WRITE…]…

… and I want you to notice the leather cover I made for it…

…as I began working, I looked up and was arrested by this sight…

…which made me laugh.

Here’s why: The ampersand always comforts me — it simply says AND… There’s always more. There can always be more. In the world of improv, “Yes, and…” is the operative mindset. It’s a generous, welcoming, fertile symbol, and that is my hope for the project.

And the Tarot card, The Fool: It shows a young man blithely setting out on a journey, oblivious to the precipice before him. It’s actually a very positive card, symbolizing new beginnings with all their potential risks and rewards.

So as I take a deep breath and prepare myself to take that first step, it amused and comforted me to think that the Universe was offering me encouragement. Here’s hoping the precipice isn’t too awful!