Massage makes me feel good, acting makes me feel alive.
This was an epiphany that hit last month. It might not mean a lot to you, but it suddenly put a focus on my life that I hadn’t had before. You see, I was constantly at war with myself that one career choice had to come before the other. I never saw them working hand in hand. I never saw that both sustained me in more than one way.
For years I have waffled between the two, thinking if one career didn’t feed me, then maybe the other would. I wasn’t trying to see the whole Mind-Body-Soul picture. This past year, I haven’t done much acting. What I have done is worry so much about ALL THE THINGS that I just kept working any job that I could find, and acting kept falling further and further behind. I truly forgot about that whole Feeling Alive sensation.
This past month, I was given the wonderful opportunity to act in a pilot of a web-series called, “Tales of the Sword” Created by my dear friend Monica Hafer, the series will have each episode deal with women in different combat situations. Swords, brawling, what-have-you; there could be blood. Sounds fun, doesn’t it? Monica hired my friend and fighting mentor, Jan Bryant to be our fight choreographer/coordinator. I hadn’t acted in anything for the better part of the year, nor really had a role to dig into for at least a year. I was doubly challenged to memorize lines and a fight. I was freaked out!
myself, Jan Bryant, and Eric Hunter
My little inner critic couldn’t shut up about how lousy I would be, how horrible I look, how I’m working too much to do justice to the role, how I wasn’t working enough just to pay bills. I found I was stressing about everything in my life. But somewhere, one night while rehearsing, I felt invigorated; electricity ran through me that I hadn’t felt in a long time, it overcame me and it didn’t leave. Oh yeah, I love being an actor! I need acting and being creative in my life as much as I need a survival job or three. Maybe even more.
Hans Pasricha and myself by
The purpose of this article? I want you to realize, my fellow Creative Soul, that you need your creativity and your passion as much as you need a paycheck. You don’t need one without the other. I can be a massage therapist by day and an actor by day as well. For me, if I don’t have both in my life, I’m wandering around more lost than I want to be. Don’t let fear guide you at any point on this journey. It’s totally easy, as fear loves to lead you away and she’s a feisty little inner demon. Yes, you can have your creativity and passion, as well as a paycheck. If it all comes from one place – fantastic. If it comes from 5 places – fantastic. Just make sure you’re feeding yourself as well as your heart. I advise you to find what makes you feel alive. Keep pursuing that as much as any other dream.
About Patty Jean Robinson
Actor, Massage Therapist, Pet Sitter, Social Media Consultant - Patty Jean Robinson hails from The Bay Area and moved to Los Angeles in 2005. She has studied Theater Arts at UCLA, and Massage Therapy at National Holistic Institute in Emeryville, CA. She’s an entrepreneur at heart and is constantly in a state of creation in every field that catches her attention. In between acting gigs, she works as a massage therapist, a pet-sitter, and freelances as a social media consultant. She currently is co-host alongside of Cindy Marie Jenkins on WebSeries Watch, a show which introduces new web shows and creators on a weekly basis. She and Cindy also host the weekly RUGeekie Hangouts for The Geekie Awards. She’s on a quest to connect as many people as possible through shared experiences and events in L.A., because it really is a small town. When she can, she trains at the Academy of Theatrical Combat, so she can one day be a pirate.