As the days count down to the beginning of the Keystone Theatre Fringe Festival tour of The Last Man on Earth, I’ve been thinking about the challenges and changes ahead of me. Â The changes I’ve talked about: giving up my job and apartment and hoping for the best on this tour. Â That’s big for me. I’m doing my best not to even think about what I will do when I come back, because I’m a natural worrier and I know that if I start to think about it, I will not stop. Â So, the plan is to just concentrate on the tour and the summer adventure and worry about the rest when I get back. Â For now, all I have to really worry about is packing.
For the challenges:
– Getting out of my shell. Promotion for Fringe festivals is always about legwork; getting out and talking to people, schmoozing at the Fringe tent, and encouraging people in lines for other shows to come to your show. Â This will take me way out of my comfort zone, because I’m a closet introvert. Walking up to people and starting a conversation is not something I am good at, or even comfortable with, so that’s something I will have to overcome this summer.
– This whole summer will be a test of my social networking abilities. Trying to keep my own twitter feed up to date , while also updating @keystonetheatre and The Last Man on Earth Facebook page as well will be a challenge, but one I think I’m up to.  I’ll have to make sure I keep taking pictures so I can tweet the Fringe experience and the show. And of course, I plan to blog the whole thing, in addition to tweeting and Facebooking. What I’m hoping is that I get better at doing all of these things, so that when I get back, I can add that to my skills to help with that  whole “getting a new job” thing.
– Just sitting back and enjoying the ride. Like I said earlier, I’m a worrier, so just enjoying the ride isn’t in my nature. I like to know what’s happening tomorrow, and the day after that. But when we’re on the road, and in new cities, I really won’t know these things, so I will have to learn to just enjoy it. Or as the actors say “be in the moment”.
All in all, I’m looking forward to tackling these challenges. Â I think I can do it.
What challenges are you setting for yourself this summer?