Monday, April 30, 2012

Just under the gun...

I thought when I originally posted my manifesto of "At least one post per week" that not only would I exceed that, but one post per week was pretty weak.  Well, here we are, Monday night around 10-something and I'm racing to fulfill my promise.  Ah, the power of Resistance.  Needless to say, I am here! 

Since I'm late, what should have been last weeks post will address taking chances and stepping into your own.  When I started to pursue acting, I always felt I needed to learn more before I could consider myself even a basic actor.  I was ALL about the learning.  And while I feel it is important to learn and hone your craft, whatever that may be, at some point it begins to be less about the learning and more about the avoiding.  There is a safety in being an eternal student and it can hold you back from going out there to pursue what it was you were learning about in the first place.  I now recognize how self-defeating it can be to always think that someone else knows more than you do.  It takes balls (or ovaries as the case may be) to throw yourself out there and take a chance, even if you aren't 100% sure you know what you're doing.  This is something I always admired in others but was hesitant about when it came to me and my goals.  I finally reached a point where I realized that in order to truly understand what I learned, I needed to apply it.  Sounds simple, right?  Ha!

Letting go of the idea of being "less than" is so important to moving forward.  (In that vein, there's a great post on "Purpose Fairy" that really addresses this: http://www.purposefairy.com/3308/15-things-you-should-give-up-in-order-to-be-happy/ )  Needless to say, when I started to let go and take action, I felt sooo much better.  I got new headshots, updated my listings on casting sites, took a bunch of workshops with casting agents, etc., etc.  I am taking charge and moving forward.  Who knows where is it will lead but either way I am embracing where I am now, instead of where I think I should be.  And that is the greatest lesson of all....

**On a different note, since this is an LA blog, I recommend checking out the new MOCA exhibit downtown "The Painting Factory: Abstraction After Warhol"http://www.moca.org/museum/exhibitiondetail.php?&id=466  It's a fun exhibit and shows some lesser known Warhol pieces as well as some really great newer artists.  Love it, hate it, decide for yourself.  (The above pic is with my friend Agnes in front of one of  Warhols' giant Rorschach paintings)

Thursday, April 19, 2012

I'm back
I'm back in the saddle again
I'm back
I'm back in the saddle again
- Aerosmith

Well, it's been a little over two years since I first started and posted to this blog....and wow, I can't believe it's been two (!) friggin' years.  WTF?  Since I started (and subsequently stopped) this blog, my friend Alex continued with hers and has exploded.  What was wrought that fateful night in her apartment in October 2009 has borne fruit, just not by me.  Here is Alex's site:


I'm really proud of her for sticking to it.  So in the spirit of sticking to things and continuing with what I started, I am back "again" with a goal of writing at least an entry a week, if not more.  Right now, once a week feels like a doable goal.  My goal for this blog is twofold:
  • Find a forum for all the crap floating in my head and write it down
  • Post/write/share things that I find interesting that might be of use to others
The hard part is the actual doing.  I've been debating what to put up here for over a week, once I decided to dust this off and try anew.  Should I do a "recap" of my life over the past 2 years since I wrote the first post?  Should I throw up a bunch of links to stuff that I really like?  Should I just write and find my voice?  I think I'm going to go with writing and finding my voice....

That being said, what the hell do I write? I've been reading this great book by Steven Pressfield called the "War of Art" and it is all about resistance and the roadblocks we put up to not do our work.  If you ever have creative blocks, I highly recommend it.  Since reading that book it has helped me to recognize that writing is something that always makes me cringe.  I have no idea why. Maybe it's because of the fact that with writing you have to get what's in your brain and put it down, let it out, let it fly free.  Not something I'm comfortable with.  So I've been resisting writing for as long as I can remember.  And the most frustrating part of all of it is that people have said to me, many times, "Are you a writer?" and "You should write".  Once again, I have no idea why.  Agghh!  But they must have sensed, or I put out there, my own inner conflict with the whole writing process.  This blog is a way for me to break through that barrier and just get to the writing....wherever that may lead.  So even if I'm the only one who ever reads this, at least I'm doing my work!

**Lastly, in my video bar I'm posting videos from TED and I love, love, love the Elizabeth Gilbert one.  Peace out....