This afternoon I found myself sitting in the audition waiting-room surrounded by beautiful auditioners. I kept my headphones in, in order to avoid the pre-audition jargon.
As I pretended not to listen to the girls chatting it up; I heard one mention that she was "soooo nervous" she was beginning to break out in hives. I assumed she was the typical over dramatic actor, you know the kind that gives the rest of us a bad rep, so embarrassing. I kept my head down and focused my energy on Seth Godin's latest blog posts.
Finally, the drama queen, Ms. Hives was called into the audition room. A few minutes later, she left the room and wished us all good luck... Her good luck sincerity prompted me to raise my head and thank her. And as she smile and turned, I saw splotches of hives all down her back.
Wow! She really wasn’t over reacting... All her bottled up nerves had manifested in a real break out!!
I wanted to run after her and say "I'm sorry I didn't believe you... Please can I help you overcome your nerves?"
But then I thought... who am I?! Really?!
I then thought some more.
Too late.
My mind was racing, but I couldn't quite pin down what my heart and mind were trying to release.
Too late.
My mind was racing, but I couldn't quite pin down what my heart and mind were trying to release.
And then it came…
Dear Ms. Hives,
Learn to accept the emotion you are feeling. Don't try to deny it or make it into something else. Accept your nervousness, rather than becoming frustrated with it, and maybe your hives will dissipate.
Or maybe, the hives stick around…
But consider this, “Henry Fonda was still throwing up before every stage performance, even when he was 75” (The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield).
In other words the fear, the nerves, the frustration, the anxiety is never going to go away… It may subside here and there, but your emotions have a life of their own, it’s YOUR life. So why not use those crazy, funky, scary emotions to your advantage?
In other words the fear, the nerves, the frustration, the anxiety is never going to go away… It may subside here and there, but your emotions have a life of their own, it’s YOUR life. So why not use those crazy, funky, scary emotions to your advantage?
Feel those emotions. And before you know it, one emotion will shift and morph into another emotion. This new emotion could be better or worse, but feel it. And when we finally give over, we undergo truth. This truth helps us to create art from the stuff that really counts, the soul.
And finally...
Whatever we are most afraid of…
Whatever our Ego likes to tell us we SUCK at…
Whatever we’ve given up on and then started again a million times over…
Whatever gives us HIVES…
That nemesis, that thing, that dream…
is what we need to dedicate our lives to.
Like Henry Fonda and his nausea… you’ve got your hives. It’s a sure sign you’ve chosen the right career path.
“Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel towards pursuing it.”
Steven Pressfield, Do The Work
In my own vernacular, the definition of Pressfield’s Resistance: a force of nature arising in anything from thoughts, to people, to a skin break out that tries to stop you from achieving your dreams.
Become aware of the fear your Ego creates, and let it steer you toward the creation of your art.
Wishing you so much success!
Sincerely,
Malorie Bryant
Do the Work by Steven Pressfield is dedicated to helping you accomplish your biggest endeavors, and dare I say, DREAMS. I highly recommend you read it ASAP. It came out April 21st, it’s hot off the press. I ordered it day of and I’m now reading it for a second time. It’s a must. Plus it’s only 98 pages, with a large font. Have I convinced you?!
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