Sitting in the waiting room about to finish Week 5 of 6 of radiation. One more week to go. 💙

And honestly? I’m in great spirits.

Besides the hair loss and occasionally finding myself crawling into bed a little earlier, things have been pretty smooth. I’ve been spending most of my time working out to maintain my muscle mass, hanging out with people I love, writing, creating, and continuing to push Get Reelisms forward.

This week also included a little desert adventure.

I got to experience the Perseid meteor shower on BLM land near Cottonwood, which was my first time camping without amenities. My friend Jon was very concerned about my comfort level, but I reminded him that I’ve basically been training for desert camping since my first Burning Man in 2022. 😂

Jon and I leaving from radiation camp to Cottonwood

Camping on BLM lands near Cottonwood and Pinto Basin (supposedly the darkest part of Joshua Tree) for star gazing

There was a dust storm. There were clouds. But the pockets of sky we could see were spectacular. Nature’s light show. I even caught a few shooting stars, which was pretty magical.

Then we explored Bombay Beach, an almost-abandoned town near the Salton Sea that somehow feels like an art installation, a ghost town, and the beginning of a zombie movie all at once.

Eery Bombay Beach sign leading us into a randomly abandoned town that was supposed to be a major resort area in the 1940s-1970s.

There are still artists and residents living there, but so much of the town looks perfectly abandoned—cars sitting in the same spots, buildings that may or may not still be in use. Half the time I couldn’t tell what was functioning and what had been deserted. I fully expected a zombie to pop its head out at any moment.

Then we found the “beach,” which is filled with these giant Burning Man-esque art installations. Very cool. Also, it was around 108 degrees, so for a brief moment I truly felt transported back to the playa.

Another random art installation that was so bizarre on the stinky shores (stinky because the Salton Sea is mainly made of agricultural run off now) of Bombay Beach

A random Mad Max like pirate ship on Bombay Beach

I posted a photo, and of course one of my fellow Burner friends immediately knew exactly where I was—and apparently OWNS PROPERTY THERE.

Which, oddly, tracks. 😂

I also learned that date palms are a huge thing throughout the Coachella Valley, so naturally I had my first-ever date shake on the way back to LA. Highly recommend.

Getting a Date Shake at Shields Date Garden

But the biggest surprise of the week had nothing to do with the desert.

I made it to Round 2 of the Sundance Development Track with En Route.

Yay! Sundance! Finally! Onward to Round 2!

En Route, the screenplay that I have been working on for over a decade is in Round 2 of Sundance Development Labs

I’ve been applying to Sundance Labs for probably a decade, and I have never made it to another round until now.

And I’m ecstatic.

There is something incredibly validating about realizing: Wait… someone is actually reading these essays.

En Route is a film I’ve been working on and perfecting since 2016. Ten years of rewriting, submitting, getting rejected, rewriting again, submitting again, and continuing to believe there might be a place for this story.

When I got the news, I told my close friends, but I was honestly going to leave it at that because Round 2 isn’t a finalist spot. There’s still a long way to go.

But my friend Mai encouraged me to share the little win.

Because it is a win.

Most people probably would have stopped applying after a decade.

But apparently I’m crazy and stubborn enough to keep going. 😂

And now, finally, I’m in the running.

My producer, Alison Week, has probably read more than 20 essays for this darn project over the years—patiently giving notes, encouraging me, and continuing to show up for a project where, for a very long time, there was absolutely no indication that any of this was working.

That’s one of the hardest parts about pursuing something creative: continuing to show up when you have no proof yet that showing up is making a difference.

Sometimes progress is obvious.

And sometimes you spend ten years knocking on the same door before someone finally cracks it open.

So today, I’m cracking open the script again, making sure it still looks good, and sending it off. I genuinely have no idea what version of the script I submitted the first time, so that should be fun. 😂

But for now, I’m celebrating the little win.

Week 5 is done.

Radiation: one week left.
Meteor showers in the desert: very cool.
Sundance: I have arrived.

Now wish me luck. 💙

Falling Forward | One more Week Left! And Sundance Round 2!