"Not really," I say. And then as Barry begins cutting my hair, I have a thought.
I always respond to the word "busy" this way. "Busy", to me, brings to mind a phone ringing endlessly off the hook, a daily diary filled with meetings, and a string of deadlines to which I must adhere. According to this definition, I am entirely not "busy".
But I had to pause for a moment and reflect on the disservice I'm doing my current projects by saying I'm not busy with them. I'm hugely busy with a whole film that has been put in my care while the director is away on a shoot in India for 9 weeks, and in that time I must finish it (or come as close as I can) which will include some days of pickups and lots and lots of editing. That's busy, and there's a lot to be done in 9 weeks. I've also got paid work on every week, which is as much as any self-employed schlep could hope for in these times. I'll be shooting all day tomorrow, and editing over the weekend. And that's all not to mention the 24/7 background hum of the story that is brewing which will one day soon be committed to print, and later film. I wake up and go to sleep with scenes playing in my head every day and every day I am problem-solving for that story.
Busy?
I think the question is "are you working?", which is what I must remind myself to mentally insert in place of the word "busy" when it arises. Am I working? Yes, I certainly am. I must honour this work. I have been gifted the trust of a colleague and the faith in my skills of a broadcasting company and that's something of which I can, and indeed must, be proud.
On a completely other note...
I made this ribbon to wear during my work around the madding crowds in Dublin this weekend. I don't know how much attention people are paying to the recent killings of three people on two separate occasions, but it's something close to my heart as I love Northern Ireland and it's people, and I have friends in the PSNI.
It is my opinion that a moratorium should be placed in the media on using the word "dissidents" in relation to the members of the "Real" or "Continuity" IRA who killed two British soldiers and one police man, totally unprovoked and in an incredibly cowardly fashion, because the term is incorrect and lenient in ways these killers don't deserve. The IRA has disarmed, has politicized, and through the will of the people who have led the charge in both sides of the Troubles there is now a power-sharing, devolved government in Northern Ireland in place as a means to an end, no matter what end they envision (unified or separate). I feel Martin McGuinness is absolutely right to denounce these killings, even if it is partially his fault along with his confederates', that there is this rump of headcases that remain with no cause left to fight. I am prepared to back him all the way if his will is to wipe away all thought of political support of these acts.
To call the criminals who have committed cold-blooded murder "dissidents" is allowing them more respect than they deserve. To even refer to the killings as perpetrated by the "Continuity" or "Real" IRA is affording these groups of twisted souls credence as two sets of organised and legitimate forces in support of a just cause, and it just ain't so.
I'll be wearing my hand-made ribbon (purple on black, if you can't tell from the photo because of the poor lighting) as requested by the leaders of the churches of Northern Ireland, leaders of all denominations, who are united in their condemnation of the senseless killings over the last week. I hope that this rump that Sinn Féin has left behind will be dealt with swiftly, and decisively.
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