Opportunity Knocks by Debbie Bennett
But it does knock, doesn't it? Opportunity. And often when you least expect it. Take the other day for example and we're out at an RSPCA centre, looking at cats. With Andy being allergic to a lot of furry animals, it's becoming a mission to find a cat he can tolerate - different cats produce stronger/weaker reactions. And bizarrely it's a long-haired cat that he seems most comfortable with ...
So we head off for a pub lunch, (paid for by the discount we negotiated in Maplin earlier while buying a joint business asset of a projector - it always pays to haggle). We decide to go to a pub in Whitchurch where Andy renovated and replaced all the lead-light windows last summer. We've not been since it re-opened for business and it's already gaining a good reputation for food. There's a piano in this pub, and it was fairly quiet at about 3pm, so Clare gives a impromptu rendition of Frozen (with no music) and gets a round of applause at the end. Buoyed by audience-appreciation, she segues easily into a medley of other stuff, both classical and popular.
And the pub manager is at the bar and wanders over to ask how old she is. We tell him she's 18 (and she can sing too) and he asks whether she'd be interested in a couple of hour slots once a week playing piano for diners. So Clare comes back and they chat and she's probably doing a trial in a few weeks with a view to becoming a permanent fixture one evening a week.
So it's not just about being in the right place at the right time; it's about making the most of every opportunity that comes your way. For me as a writer, that means always carrying book postcards with me in case anyone asks (never pushy, just available). It means pitching for a slot at the local literary festival, with no real idea of what I'll do if I get one, but I'm sure I'll think of something. I'm speaking at our Women's Networking Day at work, theme: stepping outside of your comfort zone - because all writers do that, don't they, every time they put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard? I volunteer to blog anywhere and everywhere somebody will have me - because you never know who might be reading. All it takes are six degrees of separation and those opportunities just might lead on to something bigger and better.
Life is what we make it.
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