Acting Wisdom: Know Yourself

Here's a bit of acting wisdom I found on another blog (An Actor's World) that I wanted to have on hand for myself to refer back to for its gems of wisdom for the actor. The YouTube clip is originally from Inside Acting Podcast. I look forward to more clips from them.

Forest Whitaker's Touching Oscar Speech

Forest Whitaker is an amazing actor! He truly loves his craft and it radiates in his performances. This touching Oscar speech speaks to me of the beauty of dreaming to create the life and career you desire despite all the odds.

If you haven't seen The Last King of Scotland you are missing an amazing film! 

Sydney Poitier: A Trailblazer

There is no one like Sydney Poitier. He has always been one of my greatest inspirations as an actor. His dignity and pose commands respect. This link captures not only is humility but the amazing path he blazed winning an Oscar for Lilies of the Field - a truly beautiful film on so many levels.

Dustin Hoffman winning Best Actor for "Kramer vs. Kramer"

As much as people complain about the Oscars, every actor holds a secret dream that their work would one day reach the level of being considered worthy of Oscar consideration.

Here is a link to a wonderful clip of Dustin Hoffman winning for "Kramer Vs. Kramer. It beautifully honors the body of work of all the nominees and concludes with a touching acceptance speech. It is a pleasant reminder of the joy of dreaming of one day creating work half as memorable as all those nominated in this clip. I dare to dream and look forward to the day I know my work is moving in that direction.

Inspirational Reminder: Protect Your Dreams No Matter What!

It never hurts to remind myself of what I believe and allow it to inspire me as often as possible. If I know anything, I know I must protect my dreams...no matter what!

Finding My Way...

My blog has been silent for the last month as I have been trying to figure out what has been off within me. I have lived with a belief system that your life experiences are a reflection of where you place your thoughts. The challenge of this belief system is that I am completely responsible for the state of my life. There is no cursing God or blaming others- it all is coming from some deep rooted thought patterns that are simply not serving me well.

Now I have been pretty good at looking at my life and acknowledging the painful childhood experiences that have shaped me. However,  the challenge I realize now is  figuring out how to not just let go of the past but to replace the thought patterns that clearly are deeply rooted in my subconscious. The Universe has decided to give me a hand in this area. After a spontaneous search of the internet on topics of self-hypnosis and tapping into the power of your subconscious mind, I came across a "positive brainwashing program" called "UltraConfidence" that for a minimal cost provides you with a system of downloads that bombard your brain with subliminal thoughts of confidence as you listen to mini-lectures on why you are entitled to living confidently in the present. The program doesn't say anything that I haven't heard before but the power of the program is in spending about 50 minutes a day listening to the series of 6 mini-lectures and answering two sets of loaded questions whose function are to bypass your conscious mind and implant thoughts of confidence directly into your subconscious.

After a few weeks, I have to say it has been very useful at keeping me in a very positive state of mind. I am planning on making it a part of my daily routine and see where it takes me.  So far, I am very optimistic. I have had recently what I can only describe as a breakthrough!  I booked an acting job! I have been working for a year and a half on trying to break back into this business. I know that much of the problem has been linked with simply having the self-confidence to go for it and believe in myself. As I don't believe in coincidence, I can only conclude that the UltraConfidence has had enough of an impact to help me land my first acting job in a long time.

I trust that in time and continued focus on replacing those embedded limiting thoughts that more positive experiences will continue to manifest into my life. I had so much fun getting back onto a studio lot as a professional actor! I look forward to getting to a place of auditioning and working on a consistent basis! Thoughts have power, so I am determined to focus my thoughts firmly in the direction of my dreams.      

Keeping Going No Matter What...

I have been pretty lousy with my blogging as life has been a real challenge. I am auditioning with little success to-date, money is not exactly flowing - yet, and it is all been something of an emotional drain trying to remain positive and focused on creating the life and career that I want. Some days I wonder why I am doing all this but in the end, I know I am still happier than I ever was working my prior 9to5. I am progressing with my improving my craft but I have not broken through to make professional progress earning a living in my chosen field aside from occasional coaching gigs.

I keep going because I know I can make a life doing what I love. I do however, need to get a thicker skin and improve my confidence in my abilities despite my current career challenges.

I am once again reminded that I have a habit of seeing my negative self-talk as "facing reality" and my positive thinking sometimes feels like "self-delusion". I wish I knew how to switch that around. Improving my diet has been very helpful in keeping more positive. My Saturday runs also work wonders. However, getting a regular exercise program has been another challenge.

How does one learn to follow through better? I can get motivated for a while and then hit a rough patch and everything seems to feel overshadowed by my mental roadblocks to success. This weekend, I plan to work on a weekly schedule of activities so hopefully I can create more structure to help me see myself moving toward my various goals and whether motivated or down in the dumps I can rely on the structure to make it through the day. Let's see what comes of this new tactic. Whatever keeps me going...