One thing about being an artist in the entertainment industry, let alone pursuing a career as one, is it takes incredible drive and perseverance in order to succeed. And there are NO guarantees.
At one point in your life you had this dream of moving to Los Angeles and pursuing your dreams in entertainment. But did that dream include pursuing them again, and again over years and years? Did you see yourself building a network of supporters, collaborators, and contacts and the kinds of relationships where favors are traded and remembered over decades? Did it include facing occasional or continual denial and indifference to your artistic vision or even your very identity? Did you dream of pursuing new and diverse avenues to score those “wins” that keep you going and keep you committed? Did you dream of overcoming incredible obstacles along the way and developing yourself as a person?
These are the dreams that you need to have in order to truly build a life for yourself as an actor, writer, director, creative ANYTHING in Hollywood. It is a town with a thousand roads to glory, and a thousand different diversions and ways to get off track. You may think you’ve got it, that this role, commercial, or TV gig is your big break, and it could fizzle away and turn out to be nothing. OR that random video you did with your friends could go viral and suddenly you’re in meetings to develop a series out of it, or you finally score the great agent who believes in you because of it.
I have many friends who have had all levels of success in this town. I’ve seen incredible highs and lows on many people’s journeys that I support and root for 100%. Every one of these successful people in the entertainment industry had 2 things in common: they followed their own path (none of my associates “success” stories look alike) and they never gave up. So on those days when you are worn out from your side gig, you feel creatively blocked, or you just feel like giving up, ask yourself two questions.
Is there anything else in this world I’d rather be doing? (If the answer to this is yes, PLEASE go do it! You will be better served and so will humanity)
AND
What can I do TODAY that will keep me going?
As artists it is vitally important that we persevere. That each and every day we get up and do something that feeds and frees our artistic soul. Whether it is going on a hike, writing for 20 minutes, working on our contact list or website, creating an inspiring collage, signing up for a workshop, painting, reaching out to a contact we haven’t heard from in a while, calling up a career buddy, or working on a new monologue, our inner artist is something that must be continually nurtured.
Every day we move one step closer to the goal of sharing our stories with the world. Every day we get up with the long term vision and the dedication to make small actions towards the larger goal. And this journey will make you a better person. You will learn compassion, as challenges and disappointments become intimate friends. You will become a better listener as you discern between opportunity and illusion and you will learn to leap on good opportunities like a jaguar. You will learn to trust when something isn’t right like a jack-rabbit. And like a cat, you will just not be bothered by people’s bullshit. It won’t faze you. The key is to rinse and repeat: to rise and keep onward, to greet each day with gratitude that you still want to live the life of the artist. No matter the steps forward or backwards, you have chosen the path less travelled, and the journey is the reward.
