Hey Reader,

Happy FriYAY!

Have you seen the movie Cabaret? Or read the book?

Even better… have you seen the stage show at the Playhouse Theatre in London, which they’ve transformed into the Kit Kat Club for this run?

That’s where I was on Wednesday.

A friend treated me and another friend to tickets, which I am so grateful for because a) it was a lovely gift and b) I probably wouldn’t have realised Cabaret was on or chosen to see it if I had.

It was stupendous.

We were up in the gods with a wonderful view, because this show was in the round (meaning a round stage in the middle, with the audience seated all around, 360degrees.

If you get the chance, go and see it.

I don’t remember the ending being that bleak, but maybe that’s because it feels like it’s happening in realtime in the UK right now. It was so funny, because the audience was in that shocked state, I was in tears, wanting to cheer and yell because they were magnificent, but also just… the energy at the end was bleak.

I’m writing about it, though, because I wanted to show you an example of where creative inspiration comes from.

In November I’m taking part in a trapeze competition — Aerial Art. The idea is to tell a story with a performance, and until this week I’ve been drawing a blank as to what to create.

But on Wednesday, watching Cabaret, an idea started to form — and I know what I’m going to do.

Ideas are everywhere.

Inside our heads, but outside of them first.

You’re full of amazing ideas and opinions and thoughts, you just have to recognise them… and that can be difficult to do when you’re in the middle of them.

If you’d like an endless stream of ideas — your ideas — and daily direction and accountability to write about them, I would love to invite you to Write Every Damn Day on Easy Mode.

Here’s how it works:

• 91 minutes on Zoom finding out what’s getting in the way of your voice, your motivation, and your writing; pulling amazing ideas out of your head; and showing you how to find more ideas, all the time.
• 30 days of personalised, unique-to-you writing prompts delivered in a way to suit you, every weekday morning — get up every day knowing exactly what you’re going to write, why, and how, and get a little feedback from me, too.
• 30-minute celebration call at the end of the 30 days to ask me anything, celebrate your achievement, and create a plan to keep you writing.

A month of writing coaching, helping you to write on easy mode, for just £499 + VAT.

By the end of a month, you could have:

• Launched a product
• Started a newsletter
• Sold out your coaching spots
• Connected with your perfect clients
• Got the kind of confidence you see in others… but weren’t sure you could get for yourself

​Stop struggling to write, and start writing now!​

Right. Onwards to the Friday Goodie Bag. Here’s some cool stuff you should check out from this week…

Amy Kean’s TEDx Talk on Gravitas

Amy is a goddam genius and force for good in the world, and I’m currently doing a public speaking training course she created. It’s one of the best trainings I’ve ever invested in.

She speaks out and uses her voice for good, and in this TEDx talk she’s dismantling the idea that “gravitas” is a thing.

How many women out there have been told they lack “gravitas”? Watch Amy’s talk and find out why it’s bullshit and we’re screwed from the start. Which is why gravitas should get in the bin.

My index cards aka my memory bank

I care very deeply about my friends, family, clients, and the people I meet. Unfortunately, my brain is kind of a thoughtless dick, and important information falls out of it.

(Please tell me why I can remember 7 phone numbers from my childhood and all the lyrics to Rasputin and Basket Case tho)

One of my favourite things is to see stuff that I think someone I know might like or be interested in and send it to them. I like to give birthday and Christmas gifts that people will love and find useful. But my ADHD scuppers me at every turn.

So I created this red box of delights:

On each card is a name, colour coded depending on where I know them from. On the front is professional information — their business, what they do, their job, etc.

On the back is personal information — family, pets, location, what they love and hate, hobbies, little snippets I pick up from conversation.

I create a new one for each new person I meet, and update them after conversations with new information.

Then, when I see something cool, I see if someone I know might like it, and send it to them.

Could you do something similar if you have memory challenges?

The patron saint of escapists and illusionists

Last weekend we visited Harvington Hall, which has the most number of priest holes of any house in the UK.

The priest holes were created by Jesuit builder Nicholas Owens, who was a creative genius. Need to hide a priest? Oh, these stairs lift up and away to reveal a hidey hole for jewels… but beneath that hidey hole is a little passage and a tiny room to stuff a priest into for a few days.

He’d create priest holes all over. My favourite was a solid oak beam, in a library room, up a stair on a mezzanine in a cupboard. But push the beam at the top, and it’d hinge up to reveal a narrow space with a table and chair, where you could hide a priest.

​More info here.

This snail living its best life

I love tiny things and I love snails and Joe knows this so he sent me this video.

One of my favourite things is seeing the totally random stuff people create, just because they can, for the joy of it.

Not everything has to be “useful” or “productive”. Remember what it was like to be a kid: go and make something, just because.

Why’s it called a Flymo tho?

My friend Ben Kench and his best buddy Joel are in a band called Deadbeats, and they are two of the most creative people I know.

(They helped me write some silly songs a few years ago)

Anyway, they’ve made a really cool behind-the-scenes video documentary about their process and I think you should watch it, because it’s a great demo of how ideas come from EVERYWHERE and can become ANYTHING.

​This is one part of the video — check their Instagram for all the parts. But this song is my favourite; it’s so funny.

And that’s a wrap!

Have a brilliant weekend, and remember: you don’t have to struggle alone to find creative ideas and write consistently.

​Invest in Write Every Damn Day on Easy Mode and level your writing up from next week.

TTFN,

Vicky

p.s. I parked in the smallest space ever in London, between two people in giant cars who parked like giant bellends. So I had to get in and out through the boot:

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