It’s great when you have some sort of a talent and it’s even greater when that talent can provide food on the table. Whichever the case though, we must always remember that first comes discipline, technique and hard work and only after that comes talent. Talent is extremely important but it requires care and nurturing. These are some of the thoughts I have been considering for the past week or so, and they have served me a great deal of inspiration. We often get tired, and we don’t want to run that extra mile, it’s much sweeter to sleep a bit more or to eat a bit more, to go out and see friends or to watch a fun movie, which in itself distracts us from the work that must be done. I have decluttered my head and the space around me which was something I thought would help me go through my wish list of things I want to achieve by the end of this summer. And, it was helpful, but not enough. Only when I realized very consciously that if I didn’t go through with my plans, I would be unable to move forward in my career, regardless of how talented I am, did I get on with my plans.
What inspired me to step on it?
I recently watched an acting class where they talked about “happy accidents”, it’s basically a great performance which for the actor is enriched by emotions and therefore he comes up with tiny gestures that contribute to the character or great pauses, but it’s accidental. I often like rolling like this when I rehearse: I try experiencing the emotions as if for the very first time on the spot, and sometimes I get to that point but it’s a matter of chance. I do not want to be a happy accident and rely on talent alone. I want a technique. Technique is something I have been dreaming of for quite a while but it’s not something a teacher can simply give to me, I have to piece it together myself and find out what works best for me. Acting is far more complicated than it seems- sometimes what you might consider a brilliant performance for professionals is thought of as shallow because the actor hasn’t gone through a process. For example, if an actor enters the stage crying and already in the mood they are supposed to be in, no matter how amazingly well it is done, it’s not something that would be prized by the director/mentor because they don’t actually see how they got to that end point- you don’t see the process. And a process can be difficult, it requires concentration and highly trained sense memory, it requires a great deal of relaxation and physical training as well. What I am striving for is exactly that- a great amount of consciousness and awareness, I want to train my mind and my body. That is a very hard task that may take years of non-stop daily work.
What are the challenges?
I believe this applies for everything, no matter what sort of profession we are talking about, it takes commitment to succeed and grow. I certainly want to grow and I want to make each one of my days a masterpiece and that can be quite wonderful as long as you don’t think of your goals as chores or something you have to do, no, you don’t really have to do it if you don’t want to, but what waits on the other side is good for you probably, if you have chosen it. Many things in life seem frightening, and we have the wrong perception about everything like calories for instance, people think calories are bad and they are not- it’s what gives as fuel to go through the day, they are most definitely our friends. Working out is a game changer: it gives us endorphins and energy; it has tremendous health benefits, but we think it’s annoying or difficult and we don’t want to do it. Fear is also something we instinctively avoid and sometimes that’s good but when that fear has nothing to do with your life or health I suggest you go for it. I always try to challenge myself in that regard, honestly sometimes it works, other times not so well, but I try myself as best as I can and if I get asked to do the things I am afraid of for a performance I will probably do them. I used to be very afraid and very conscious about everything I do but I don’t think that serves me any good besides feeding my fears. It’s in the little things even, for instance, I went to a vacation with my friends this summer by the coast of Black Sea. My friends like extreme things and they would explore the sea floor and jump in the water from the shoulders of one another and do flips, but for me all of those things were a nightmare. I don’t like knowing there are crabs under my feet or any living things at all, I don’t like the fact I can go underwater and have it enter my ears, my eyes and my nose, I most certainly don’t like to try flipping in the air… what if I break something or what if I hurt someone else?! Despite all of those thoughts and feelings, however, I decided to do exactly that. I spent hours in the water, playing volleyball, getting incredibly messy, swallowing salty water (feeling discussed by that), and I jumped and flipped and found very cute shells. And all of that was fun and adventurous and interesting.
Conclusion
Those are all the blockages we must fight in order to work on ourselves and our development. I have been considering two mantras: “Take each day as it comes” and “Make each day your masterpiece” and I think they are both charming but I pick the second one. I want to make something of my days and plan them in a way that I can, not just hope for the better and keep my head down. We may have talents and great gifts but they become useless if we don’t take care of them. It’s silly when you think about it: so you have time to take care of all the stuff you have and watch TV all day long but you don’t have time to explore yourself? Who knows how much more amazing and creatively able you are! Why not invest time in that…in you?
Positive from the aloof 