Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Get Attached to Now
We actors sometimes get so consumed by what we are trying to achieve and the cuts can be so deep that it is difficult to see beyond the acute pain. We forget that there is a whole world for us that doesn’t have to do with the industry... To all those that have supported me and continue to support me, thank you. Thank you for wiping my tears, for giving me a boost and for never asking me "how long are you gonna keep at this?" You guys are my rock and you know who you are
(from When it's really bad, it's not really that bad at all).
As I've mentioned before we are living the dream and get to do amazing things, and our job (auditioning) is pretty fantastic. The bookings are the vacation, the job is auditioning. Our job, going from audition room to audition room playing make-believe, is one of the most pleasurable jobs I can imagine.
Sure bookings are the goal, and they're wonderful, but they cannot be the determiner of your happiness. Partly because if they are, you are guaranteed periods of sadness since every actor, every single actor, has times in their career when they don't have any bookings. And partly because our job is to play the roles in auditions well, and sad people tend not to do their best work in any profession. So find out how to be happy now, today.
Build a life not just a career. After all, your career is meant to be a part of your life, even if it is a significant one. So develop the skill of enjoying the work, aiming for the bookings and good stuff that comes with them, but don't stay so attached to them that if they don't materialize you are crushed. In the grand scheme of our lives, a single booking is not the be all end all. There is a sweet spot between caring so much you live and die by your professional success, and caring so little that you phone it in and never invest emotionally or never allow yourself to be vulnerable in your work. Find it. You will drift from it a bit from time to time. Feel the frustration when you do. It is only a feeling and can't hurt you permanently unless you make it something that embitters you. We are lucky, we are blessed and there is another audition or another meeting coming.
Stay in your moment, stay in right now, not some not-here-yet-future that you can't act in right now. All acting is immediate to the moment. Today you cannot act tomorrow. At some point soon I may write a post about how the world can change your plans without your permission and with no warning, but you still get to live in each moment of your life anyway. Whether I write that or not, until next time, have fun, enjoy right now and break a leg!
Labels: inspiration, process
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this posted by David August at 1:41 PM 
comments:
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." ~ John Lennon, "Beautiful Boy"
Thank you for this message, David. Being mindful and staying in the now is right thinking for everyone. And all of life can be seen as an audition. The moment, the journey, the process...
And the light changes.
# posted by 
David August : 3:16 PM
# posted by 
Secret Actress : 2:57 PM
