Beauty is in the waiting.....
"It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop"~Confucius
I was watching the State Funeral for former President George H.W. Bush, and people may think he was an overnight success, particularly coming from a prominent political family from early on and having lived more in one lifetime than people possibly could in two or three. But that was far from the truth.
He played baseball at Yale, flew for the Navy in WWII and was shot down over the Pacific and was rescued at sea by a submarine, then went on to become successful in the oil industry out in West Texas when Odessa and Midland were merely sleepy one-light towns. Eventually he became the 41st President of the United States, which is why his funeral procession and media event was even being shown on t.v. Not everyone will get their last days on earth documented so well and to such a large and distinguished audience.
Truth is as we have been witnesses to his last few days, a lifetime that spanned 94 years, it was in those little noted years where he forged his incredible path and legacy. The same can be said for any profession where someone achieves the highest distinctions in their field. Being an actor in Texas, more specifically in a nascent film and television media market in Austin, sometimes it can feel like maybe you too are stuck out in the middle of a desert with no hope for success on the horizon.
One thing you can learn from Bush's journey was that his later success was not prominent on the surface, quite literally it was miles and miles below the desert ground where all the oil was stored that he had to work at being able to tap and bring to the surface. Acting talent can be viewed the same way, you have to reach deep into hidden deposits of your core to be able to eventually offer something to the world that they can value and use.
In between shows, films, commercials, theater productions, whatever the case may be....you can wisely fine tune that talent by learning from the paths others have followed. On my drive to work, I typically pray for friends/family or listen to fantasy sports podcast, but lately I've also started listening to "This American Life" and "Pop Culture Happy Hour" podcasts.
Not only do you get a different perspective from how Americans are living their lives and what struggles they may find across the nation, you also get in touch with what they are valuing and how they view the world around them. This week I was surprised to hear some of the commentators say things similar to how I view acting as an art....did the film capture them (the audience) in the moment? Did the actor immerse themselves to their roles to the point where it felt like you were watching a biopic instead of a detached performance? One even said something I've touched upon in previous blog entries: "It wasn't until more than halfway through the movie that I thought to myself 'Ok, this was finally worth my price of admission' to this film."
Life has a way of going through stretches where nothing comes easy or you feel stuck in that desert wondering if you will ever find an oasis, to immediately being immersed in four or five projects at once and having to prioritize your time and talent being put to the best use. The main key to finding success in the latter scenario lies in how you are using your time while you are in the waiting season......in my case, I'm learning as much as I can digest about life and how to view it through an audience's eyes and not through "what can I get from this profession." The rest will take care of itself.
Rest in Peace George Herbert Walker Bush, you had a life well lived.
I was watching the State Funeral for former President George H.W. Bush, and people may think he was an overnight success, particularly coming from a prominent political family from early on and having lived more in one lifetime than people possibly could in two or three. But that was far from the truth.
He played baseball at Yale, flew for the Navy in WWII and was shot down over the Pacific and was rescued at sea by a submarine, then went on to become successful in the oil industry out in West Texas when Odessa and Midland were merely sleepy one-light towns. Eventually he became the 41st President of the United States, which is why his funeral procession and media event was even being shown on t.v. Not everyone will get their last days on earth documented so well and to such a large and distinguished audience.
Truth is as we have been witnesses to his last few days, a lifetime that spanned 94 years, it was in those little noted years where he forged his incredible path and legacy. The same can be said for any profession where someone achieves the highest distinctions in their field. Being an actor in Texas, more specifically in a nascent film and television media market in Austin, sometimes it can feel like maybe you too are stuck out in the middle of a desert with no hope for success on the horizon.
One thing you can learn from Bush's journey was that his later success was not prominent on the surface, quite literally it was miles and miles below the desert ground where all the oil was stored that he had to work at being able to tap and bring to the surface. Acting talent can be viewed the same way, you have to reach deep into hidden deposits of your core to be able to eventually offer something to the world that they can value and use.
In between shows, films, commercials, theater productions, whatever the case may be....you can wisely fine tune that talent by learning from the paths others have followed. On my drive to work, I typically pray for friends/family or listen to fantasy sports podcast, but lately I've also started listening to "This American Life" and "Pop Culture Happy Hour" podcasts.
Not only do you get a different perspective from how Americans are living their lives and what struggles they may find across the nation, you also get in touch with what they are valuing and how they view the world around them. This week I was surprised to hear some of the commentators say things similar to how I view acting as an art....did the film capture them (the audience) in the moment? Did the actor immerse themselves to their roles to the point where it felt like you were watching a biopic instead of a detached performance? One even said something I've touched upon in previous blog entries: "It wasn't until more than halfway through the movie that I thought to myself 'Ok, this was finally worth my price of admission' to this film."
Life has a way of going through stretches where nothing comes easy or you feel stuck in that desert wondering if you will ever find an oasis, to immediately being immersed in four or five projects at once and having to prioritize your time and talent being put to the best use. The main key to finding success in the latter scenario lies in how you are using your time while you are in the waiting season......in my case, I'm learning as much as I can digest about life and how to view it through an audience's eyes and not through "what can I get from this profession." The rest will take care of itself.
Rest in Peace George Herbert Walker Bush, you had a life well lived.
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