The Great Acting Blog: “Into The Storm”
If you’re put off doing something because there is some aspect of it that is unpleasant to you or difficult or something that will upset your feeling of complacency, know this: accomplishing anything worthwhile is rarely nice and clean and easy. If it’s worth doing, then it might get messy. It will take us out of our comfort zone, into that scary territory where we are not sure whether we can accomplish the thing, where the possibility of humiliation creates anxiety. It can make us feel alone while the sense of responsibility can weigh heavily. It demands mental strength, that we hold our nerve, that we remain fixed on our goal. It can be a white knuckle ride.
It is unsurprising then, that the majority shy away from such an endeavour, preferring the serenity and complacency of doing something that doesn’t really matter, where the stakes are low, where the goal is easily accomplished. They make this choice, then sit around moaning about how “unfair” everything is. This is largely why so many drop out of acting, they can’t face up to the blood, sweat and tears of it (although they might tell themselves it’s because of something else). It’s also the reason why so many don’t really accomplish very much at all.
But what else is there, I ask you? If you are not going to undertake the difficult thing, what else are you going to do? For me, the alternative is not worth contemplating. The only thing to do is to forge ahead, into the storm.
