Post written by Dharini Woollcombe
Acting as a Partner
How to have a healthy relationship with Acting:
- Imagine your Acting career is a person.
- Describe how that person makes you feel.
- Identify how you can change your part in this relationship.
——-
Have you ever thought of Acting as a person you have a relationship with? Like a lover or a partner? How would you describe your relationship?
Usually it seems that we enable Acting to be the narcissistic, self-indulgent, hot shot who melts us with a smile and then turns around and starts flirting with the hottest kid in school. We allow it to have its way with us and then we stand aside and watch it ignore us, desperately waiting until it decides to warm us again with its feckless arms. We perceive Acting as intriguing, enigmatic, mysterious, and the very fact that its attention seems elusive drives us to keep trying to hold on. So we excuse its bad behavior and we allow ourselves to be walked over in the hopes that we may in fact gain their undying love. We think they will change and we are steadfast in our belief that they will one day see what we truly mean to them.
This is all an illusion. The reality is that this is a bad relationship. In fact, it could be termed an emotionally abusive relationship.
And it leaves us feeling spineless and pathetic and then we get more needy and demand more attention or huddle up into a ball and cry.
This is absolutely no way to maintain or sustain a lifelong career!
So do something about it. Pronto!!
Get out of that relationship.
I’m not saying dump Acting – but it’s time to seriously overhaul your perspective. We place so much expectation on this partner, we think so much of our happiness and fulfillment is dependent on it. But nobody wants full responsibility for someone else’s happiness. If you expect someone else to make you happy, you will inevitably experience resentment, disappointment and insecurity, because it’s never enough and it’s never in exactly the right way. And you know what?
Your happiness is your job. Yours!
The fuller you are with your life, the more attractive you are.
The more interested you become in your life, the more interesting you become.
You do not need Acting to make you a better, more lovable, more interesting person. You do not need it as a badge to prove that you are worthy or talented.
Acting is a creative form. But LIFE is the source of all creativity.
Through Acting you can channel the magnitude of your imagination and shape the depth of your feeling.
But in LIFE you feed your imagination and discover your feelings.
In LIFE you will find your worth, your value, your drive, your….mojo.
AND YOU NEED YOUR MOJO. You’re OWN mojo.
You need to have your own identity, your own interests, a sense of self-worth independent from your partner.
Heck, it’s just like in an acting scene. You absolutely focus on your partner, but you must also know how you feel, what you think, and what you desire. If you don’t, your scene falls flat.
Acting is like a partner. So if you’re looking for a long-term, fulfilling relationship with Acting, act like a partner.