Last year I was having a conversation with a close friend of mine when she told me that the Universe gives us warnings. She said something like, “First, the Universe whispers; and if you don’t listen to the whispers, the Universe will start to scream.” She was telling me this while I was dealing with my 6th car accident that year. No joke, my 6th. The sound of car-hitting car was becoming all too familiar, as was the staff of Enterprise Car Rental of Hollywood. It was clear to me that the Universe was already screaming. What I didn’t get and couldn’t understand was why I had missed the whispers or warning signs. Then it dawned on me, there was no possible way I could hear anything whisper with all of the stuff going on in my life. I couldn’t even hear myself.
During this crazy time I was working a 45-hour a week day job and going to school full time, in addition to auditioning and participating in workshops, plus doing all the other proactive things good actors are supposed to do. After looking at my schedule on paper it was clear to me that there was no way I could have heard the Universe whisper with all of the endless tasks and crazy goals going on in my life. My schedule had no down time, free time or “me” time. I was exhausted and decided that I had to make time for myself. I quickly learned that I needed to disconnect from all distractions including electronics in order to focus. It’s crazy how many texts, emails and Facebook invites you get when it’s time to focus on you. So I did it; I turned everything off for an hour and the first thing I did was fall asleep. Shocking right? I was clearly exhausted and needed the rest. I made a commitment that I would start to give myself one detox hour every day.
During this detox time I started to hear my wants and needs more clearly. I knew that it was time to change things up. I responded with getting more rest and exercise. I began making subtle changes at first, like adding in morning journaling. I trimmed my schedule and made it a habit to only focus on three manageable goals each day. From these changes I was able to cut out a tremendous amount of pressure that I had been putting on myself. I was able to make time to see people who are important to me. It was becoming increasingly easier for me to turn down invitations and feel less guilty about this because I was honoring a commitment to myself. I was finally putting my wants and needs first. After a few weeks of honoring this new commitment to myself I started to love being an artist again.
You have to love being an artist to be an artist and to be an excellent artist I think you have to love and nurture yourself. It is so easy to get lost and caught up in the crazy hectic stressful competitive world we live in. We have so little control of our careers outside of showing up prepared and on time, but we do have control of making ourselves a priority and listening to our wants and needs. Give yourself time, turn off your electronics and all other distractions and just listen. I suggest an hour, but if you can only give yourself 30 minutes, do it. It truly helped me. I believe making yourself a priority is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Something really amazing might happen during your time. I don’t make any guarantees, but you may hear the Universe and it might direct you to what you need to change in your life.
*photo courtesy of Dollar Photo Club