As creative people we tend to be sensitive souls. It kind of goes hand in hand as to why we are drawn to an artist’s life. Along with that, we tend to travel this road with people from all walks of life and we tend to be very open-minded in accepting all people that come along.
With that said, I have always had to be very careful with who I surrounded myself with. I am pretty easy going when it comes to all different kinds of personalities and began to notice I would stick in there with someone when everyone else gave up. This personality trait has won me some very long time loyal friendships that I will value forever. It has also won me some people who have drained every last ounce of energy I could muster up to hear for the one thousandth time the same problem over and over. Well guess whose fault that is…MINE!!! For some strange reason I see the best in people far past what they can or will see in themselves. This doesn’t make me amazing. It is just what it is. I wait and wait and wait because I just know one day they are going to see it as well. So the challenge for me is to know when to let go.
I bring this up because I feel that in my artist life it has derailed me many times. True to my Capricorn nature, I don’t get derailed for long, but a day here, a weekend there, even an hour in the course of a lifetime adds up and as you get older you really do have less time you can afford to spare for a problem that isn’t going to get solved. Because (and this was mind blowing for me to even understand) some people don’t really even want to solve the problem, they just like to complain!!
Your creative energy is just as important as your acting classes. It is tied up in your emotions and needs to be safeguarded like a child. It is that energy that will keep you inspired, keep you excited to start a new acting class, keep you happy about going to auditions, and keep you appreciative of your life. Keep in mind, I have a Blue Collar career. It’s not riding on the wings of limos and publicists and assistants…oh my. It’s riding on the wings of my shoulders, my mood, my emotions and most of all my creative energy. I’ve been doing this for a long time and as I have said before when I have seen people give up, it wasn’t because they suddenly lost their love for acting. It was because they were completely exhausted.
So, if you’re walking down this Blue Collar acting road with me, don’t waste a moment of your time when you know someone is just stealing your energy for their own survival. Tell them to “snap out of it”, take your creative energy and move on!