Acting Without the Drama

August 27, 2008. That’s just where we find ourselves sometimes. That’s where I am right now.

There are days where it feels like all you can do is put one foot in front of the other. There are other days where even that is too much. Just breathing starts to be a real challenge.

These are usually times of incredible growth. Our learning curve is so steep, it can feel overwhelming, like we’re scaling the face of a sheer cliff. Sometimes it feels like it would just be easier to repel back down, rather than face the prospect of finding another toe or hand hold further up. Our mental, emotional, and many times even physical muscles are figuratively (and occasionally literally) trembling from the exertion.

There’s a lot of good information to be had here, if we can just glean it without getting all embarrassed about it. We may be scaling straight up when we could just be taking a longer, but less steep, path that’s right next to us. Maybe we could take more breaks, giving our faculties their needed rest. Maybe we could look further up the cliff to see if there are more experienced climbers there to give us a hand up.

But there will be times that we just won’t see any other options. We’re either too tired, too stubborn, or just spinning too wildly out of control to be able to see anything other than the path ahead. It’s in these moments that what we really want (but generally can’t admit to ourselves) is connection. We want our family. If you haven’t found your family yet, go seek them now.

Our family is made up of those whom we love and those who return that love. They act as our cheerleaders during those tough times, letting us know that we’ll make it, that they believe in us, that even if it seems impossible now it will get better later. They’re our guardian angels, surrounding us so that even if we fall, our impact will be softened by their love.

Our only job during these times is to actually listen.

The path of a working actor can be quite uncomfortable at times. We begin to question lots of ideas that we had always held as incontrovertible. We many times experience rejection (although it’s usually not direct…I have yet to have a casting director tell me that I stink). We can start to feel isolated. We open ourselves up only to feel that it avails us nothing. We begin to despair.

That’s when it’s so important to stay close to our peeps…our loved ones who buoy us up during those disconnected times that will happen, no matter how connected we seek to be. We are imperfect beings seeking for the light. There will be times we pass through the shadow. Coming back into the sunshine can be as simple as hearing the encouragement that surrounds us.

I want to take a second to thank my family for their unwavering support. I’m in a place now where I feel able to continue forwards (if only for the present moment ), and I owe it to you guys. I love you all!

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