Potential.

Potential.

Do you know what yours is?  
Do you own it?
Do you work to make it a reality?
Have you taken time in your hectic schedule to find a support system so it can be realized?
Does it even matter to you any longer?

I think acting and life go hand in hand.  I come around over and over again to the realization that what we have to offer as individuals is so vital to the well being of our society.

It is very easy to let this career devolve into an ego driven let down and yet...

When I see people step in front of the camera and let down their guards, connect and really begin to discover how they feel about themselves and the world they live in, my soul comes to life.

There is so much in this celebrity based culture that suggests only those who are known have a voice.  Art is what reminds us all to stop and take a listen to what truly matters to us as a society.

What if...we stopped waiting for someone out there to give us permission to be all that we are and truly play large.  What if...we supported people to be more than they thought they ever could.  What if...we could let go of our cynicism and articulate what it is like to live in 2013.

I understand that acting is a business.  I also bristle at the thought of our art form being run like a giant corporation.  Being connected to the world we live in, understanding the daily trials of the average man, woman and child, shining a light on those things in life that shouldn't be overlooked or condoned, this is at the very heart of what we do.

Hurray to the story tellers who push to get their voices heard, who rise up against the glorification of the selfish and ignorant in reality TV and easy money.  Hurray to everyone who fights to get their film made the way they see it.

As a society we have the potential to do great things, to solve hard problems and to be better tomorrow than we are today.  As film makers we can really reach our audience. 

I can't help but be informed by being a parent of two young beautiful girls.  I want to say to the world what I would say to them.  "Go become all that you are able to be!"  Then I have the responsibility to do everything in my power to help make that possible.  Where I fall short, I need to ask the expertise of others to bridge that gap.

Art is about reminding the masses that we all have a stake in this world we create and live in.  Acting is about touching the potential of the human spirit and being honest about it.  It isn't some trite easy thing, but it isn't impossible either.

I wish for everyone to work and make money etc.  But more than anything, I wish for compelling story telling and the opportunity of us all to be ourselves unapologetically.  I wish for us to stop underestimating ourselves and our peers and really work to be amazing, brilliant, compassionate people.

After all, I do see it daily in the work at the studio.  I also see the toll it takes when those things are ignored.

So again I ask each and every one of you...

Potential.

Do you know what yours is?  
Do you own it?
Do you work to make it a reality?
Have you taken time in your hectic schedule to find a support system so it can be realized?
Does it even matter to you any longer?

With Love,
Jen