I Almost Got Divorced But Wrote a Play Instead
How a thermostat drama unlocked creative momentum.
The heat.
My husband’s blood was boiling. Mine, too.
I was upset because I wanted to work on my new play but was having trouble forcing myself to be creative.
And then our thermostat broke.
Sweating.
Palm Springs can be perfect—palm trees, blue skies, and sunshine everyday. But in the summer, paradise has a price tag of 100 to 120 degrees. Our thermostat read 86. Then, 87.
The heat I put on myself to work on my play turned literal. And that’s when my husband’s temperature started going up, too.
We needed a new thermostat.
It was 4pm. I feared we wouldn’t survive the night—our bodies or our marriage. The business day wasn’t over—I had time to call an electrician or HVAC expert. Or—
“I can fix this,” I told Steven.
The repair.
I’ve proven myself to be handy. Or, at least, audacious. I grew up watching my dad fix things. He’d turn off the circuit breaker to change a ceiling fan. Or, he’d attach jumper cables to a car battery to get the engine started. I was always watching him, always ready for huge explosions that never came.
I’ve repaired our dishwasher. I’ve hung television sets. I’ve changed brake lights on my car.
How hard could it be to install a new thermostat?
Surely, that’s easier than working on my play.
Power loss.
The thermostat hit 88.
I did my research. I bought a new thermostat. I flipped the circuit breaker.
The clock passed 5pm. The thermostat passed 89 by the time I removed it.
The wires were a tangle. They didn’t match the instructions in our brand new “easy to install” Ecobee.
Tricky, just like writing.
Panic. I called the Ecobee help line. Closed. Our usual electrician didn’t answer. Our usual HVAC repair was closed with no emergency or after-hours number.
I could see the future. 90 degrees, then 102, then Steven and me trying to sleep in flop sweat and rage.
Getting hotter.
Steven wasn’t the only one who’d suffer for my failure to fix the thermostat.
Our friends Jeffrey and Justin were arriving to play the board game Wingspan with us. No way they’d sit in this hot house.
I was dialing other electricians and HVAC companies when our friends walked in. I said, “I’m in trouble.”
The drama would soon offer a big lesson on DIY projects, and a big breakthrough on my creative process.
