The Great Acting Blog: “Embrace Drudgery Now, Enjoy Exhilaration Later”

The Great Acting Blog: “Embrace Drudgery Now, Enjoy Exhilaration Later”

The myth is that the creative life is supposed to be all fun and frolics, all of the time.

The reality however, is that there are long periods of drudgery, long periods of graft and boredom. This is true whether you are in rehearsal (how many people do you know who actually enjoy memorising dialogue?), whether you are learning a new skill, getting a project off the ground or developing your career. If you want to achieve any kind of significant breakthrough, then you’re going to need to hang-tough during those less than exhilarating periods.

The key, again, is self-awareness – realising where you are in the process, reminding yourself of your objective, and forging on.

If you find it’s not worth the effort, then yes, it probably is best you go and do something else. Otherwise, embrace the drudgery now, and enjoy the exhilaration later.