6 MONTHS LEFT in london- thoughts

     Happy New Year! It's officially 2020, the year my UK visa expires. This morning, I've been sitting here in my small flat near Stratford looking at flights back home to Canada in July. The fact that I will have to go back in six months is becoming a heavy reality which is causing me to have plenty of mixed emotions. I'm excited to see my family and friends back home who I haven't seen since last Christmas, but I'm also dreading leaving the UK, because I feel like I've made a new home here with friends I can't imagine living without. 
     All that being said, I still have six months. A lot can happen six months. I'm producing a show that I've written at the Brighton Fringe in May which is going to keep me pretty busy. In this last year and a half, I've discovered so much about myself, and I've experienced an exceptional amount of personal growth, which has led me to switch career paths from acting to writing. I've discovered that the reason I wasn't making an effort to pursue an acting career in the UK was because I wasn't in love with the process of acting. I didn't love auditioning, spending a ton of money on headshots or courses, and most importantly, I hated not being in control of whether I got a job or not. I want to be in control of the story. I want to write the stories. Ultimately, I love the process of writing. Regardless of the medium, I want to write. 
     My plan is to eventually come back to the UK on an ancestry visa. Whether that will be in a year, or five, I can't tell you. Ancestry visas are expensive, and I need to be able pursue my career as well as save money to come back to the UK. I'm planning on self publishing my first novel by next Christmas, and following that, a book of my poetry. I'm excited to see what 2020 has to offer!