Opportunity

Getting older does have it's advantages.

One thing I have discovered is how precious your time is.  We truly don't know how long someone will stay in our lives or what the next day will bring.  Keeping that in mind, allows us to make the most of the opportunities we have at hand.

Making the most of those opportunities is what brings the work alive in our acting.

Each time we step in front of the lens, we have the opportunity to take a risk, fall in love, reveal a truth and discover something we didn't know before.  We have the freedom to define a thought, articulate our experience and share in what it means to be human.

The unknown has the potential to be filled with magic and discovery.

We musn't let the mundane take away our appreciation and curiosity for what we do.

In acting exploration is everything.

When we focus on making a scene work, getting the line right or follow some type of rigid demand that the intellect makes of us, we loose our ability create.  We cut off the most vital part of who we are as an artist. That kind of experience is limiting and at times frustrating, because on some level we have given our work over to someone else's way of thinking.

When we are young we want so much.  We feel so much.  We have energy reserves that literally propel us forward into our lives, our self discovery.  If I could give advice to young actors everywhere (and I suppose young and old alike) it would be not to waste your time worrying so much about what everyone else is thinking.  The present moment offers an actor the ability to experience whether we are speaking from a sense of truth or obligation.  The actor him or herself, ultimately determines the worth of what it is they have expressed.

We must get past the fear, frustration and self consciousness when we work to that sweet opportunity of knowing this must be expressed.  This moment is what I am feeling.  I am giving my all to this experience and allowing myself to be revealed.  This is who I am!

People settle all the time.  The actors job is to rise above and remind everyone there is a beauty to being alive.

Leave the cynicism to the internet.
xx
Jen