My Upper Lip Is Fake, My Career Is Real, and My Birthday Is Still Cursed

Last week I told you about the men who disappeared, the city I’m loosely hiding in, and the scriptwriting job that fell into my lap. And now, the first season is already wrapped on my end, anyway. I keep waiting for someone to tap me on the shoulder and tell me this was a very expensive misunderstanding, but until that happens, I’m choosing to believe I belong here. Which is why I’m already plotting my next move, whether that’s slipping into the writers’ room of Nashville 911, convincing more media companies to hire me, or finally selling a story of my own. I’m not sure what will happen yet.

Anyways... I got shot in the face today! Twenty times! I’m dramatic, remember? So, I drove to the bougie side of town and got Botox. And no, I’m not outing the med spa because I had to pay for this, and if I’m paying full price, then confidentiality is my gift to myself. Technically, I paid for it six months ago, which is even funnier, but I figured with my birthday coming up, why not go get stabbed a few times?

I’ve never gotten filler, and I’m really scared of it. I started getting Botox a couple of years ago because I hate how my top lip tries to hide whenever I talk or smile. So if you’re scrolling through my Instagram wondering why sometimes my lips look bigger in some pictures vs others, it’s literally just the Botox being fresh. Nothing mysterious, nothing sinful, just science, little pain, and vanity.

The first time I ever got Botox, I fully fainted, and now I just squeeze stress balls and squeal like a little b*tch. We call that growth! I also swear it helps my hormonal chin acne. Not sure if that’s medically accurate or if I made it up, but anytime I get Botox in those areas, my acne calms down. Maybe the cortisol can’t flex through the muscle or something. I don’t know. I’m not a doctor. But back when business was booming, and I had extra money to throw around, I’d get a little chin Botox if my acne flared up, and it genuinely helped. Not recommending it; I am just sharing what happened and what worked for me.

My birthday is a few days before Christmas, which means I am contractually obligated to be a grinch. I don’t love artificial holiday cheer. It’s not even the holidays that make me a grinch; it’s that my birthday has never once been convenient. People are traveling, at parties, with their families, doing anything other than celebrating my existence.

For a few years, I stopped planning anything altogether because watching things fall through felt worse than pretending my birthday didn’t exist. I used to purposely schedule myself meetings so I wouldn’t get disappointed. I know this sounds anti-Christian, but I swear the birth of Jesus has overshadowed my birthday every single year. And what if the books are wrong? What if he wasn’t even born then? Truly, what then? Also, my cousin was actually born on Christmas Day, and he’s not nearly as dramatic as I, so… maybe I am the problem.

Anyway, these past few weeks of shifting writing from a hobby to a career have been wonderful and also a little difficult. I was talking with a friend about how I always turn my hobbies into paid gigs, which made me wonder if I’m supposed to go out and find a new hobby or if I can just separate the writing I do for work from the writing I do for myself, or if it even matters at all. I’m still bouncing between Nashville and Atlanta and loving both cities for different reasons, but now with this gig wrapped and no timeline on anything future-related, I need to keep pitching myself and finding new creative work because apparently I am a full-time creative now.

I was supposed to go to Art Basel to help a friend, but once I landed this gig, they were nothing but supportive, which made it easier to stay focused even though I really wanted to go, and felt bad saying no.

Side note: I wish I could spill all the details about the show, but that would be unprofessional of me.

To everyone cheering me on, with this new writing gig, thank you! ♡

It has been such an exciting experience, and I hope I get to be involved in the next season’s script. In between everything else, I’ve also been revising my play, which I first mentioned last episode. I’m almost done with play one, then I’ll read through and revise play two, and after that, I guess I’ll learn what playwrights do after they write plays. As far as my other writing, I haven’t written any new articles or poems this week, but a lot is happening in my head and a lot I’m working on quietly, so don’t worry, there’s more coming.

xo,
Sheridan Guerrette
WhatSheridanSaid.com
Life Behind the Artist: Wed at 9/8C