At the age of 38, I had my first mid-life crisis and spent almost a year in bed (when I wasn’t running a company, taking care of four children, a husband and several dogs and cats) and finally turned myself into a therapist.

“What do you think is wrong?” He asked. (Why am I paying this guy if I have to tell him?)

“Well,”  I said after a minute, “I hate my life.”

“Good,” he said.

“Why good?” I asked.

“Because anything we change will be an improvement.”

So, I laughed. THAT was an improvement. And I confessed I had always wanted to be a writer. Finally, at least, I was being honest.

“What would happen if you started writing?” He wondered.

“I might find out I’m no good.”

“Great!” He said. “Then we can rule it out. So, do me a favor and write something for me and bring it back next week.”

I wrote a story about my dog, Tammy and her litters of puppies. A friend of mine was an illustrator and she drew beautiful portraits of my pets from photographs. I had it printed. I had it bound. I presented it to my family and, of course, to my therapist.  I had something. I was something. It was in those pages.

Fast forward almost thirty years and I’ve written more than 100 plays, a novel, twenty or so screenplays, poetry, comedy skits- good grief. It’s almost embarrassing.

Now, as I embark on the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life, shooting a sitcom that begins tomorrow, I think back to that day in the therapist’s office and how easy it would have been to ask for medication, to complain about the husband, the kids…

Sometimes a person enters your life at the right time, says the right thing and your life changes profoundly.  But as a teacher (yes, I also became a high school and college teacher) I would tell my students - and I am reminding myself - that your life changes when you ask for it. When the choice is either to go forward or sideways - because once you open yourself, you can never go back.

Fugitive Sister Productions was formed to celebrate my journey and the many, many women who are either on the journey with me or are preparing for it, and especially, the women who are confused and wondering how to take their first steps.

What I have learned and what I bring to my production company is this: we cannot make mistakes, and nothing is wasted. The most embarrassing, heart rending, hopeless situations have a purpose. It’s called art.