Keeping Perspective

It was one of those days. Everything seemed to be going wrong. It's the end of the month and I booked zero acting jobs this month (I've been steadily booking acting/modeling jobs every month since January of this year). I've been moving and the house is just full of boxes that need to be put away (I'm rather tempted to get rid of everything and live like a monk). I spent 3 hours on making 2 dozen cupcakes, just to have the frosting melt and then stick together in the car, rendering them gross and inedible. Summer finally decided to arrive at the end of September, so today was over 100 degrees (probably why my frosting melted). My tail light burned out and I need to replace that. Except I have no idea how to.

Yeah it was one of those days.

On my drive over to work I kept thinking about how badly my acting career is going. I mean it's been a whole month since I've booked anything at all! And I started having all of these bad actor thoughts and I was feeling intensely frustrated and rejected from my lack of work. I get to the church (one of my workplaces) and I just feel this incredible amount of love and support from everyone there. Different people, some I never met before and some I've known for awhile kept telling me about how they saw me on Disney. I do work in a nursery, so I suppose everyone does watch the Disney Channel, but I really had no idea they reached such a wide audience. Tween girls came to the nursery to meet me, and I could hear them telling each other, "That's the girl on the Disney Channel". One of the pastors (who I didn't think ever noticed me) told me that his 3 year old son, who isn't even in my class, recognized me on TV and yelled for his parents to come over so they could watch me together. When I was telling my co-worker and close friend about all of the attention, she told me that she didn't tell anyone (I told her of the filming long before it aired) but everyone at church was talking about it. She called me a celebrity.

I can't help but smile at all of that. I know in reality I haven't even begun to get started yet. I've hardly done anything and there's just so much more I want to do. But it's great to be in such a supportive environment, with people who will always celebrate your successes, no matter how minor. My churches keep me sane. I help a child learn something new or I make someone feel better and my self worth becomes more than just the number of acting jobs I book in a month. It's about keeping perspective.

So my suggestion for all of you actors: find a life outside of acting. Find friends outside of the industry. Have supportive people in your life. For me, all of this comes through my church. For others, it may be through a charity or through a hobby. Surround yourself with positive, loving people.

When I walked into the church, I was a confused, upset mess. When I walked out a confident young woman, once again ready to face the world. That's what a supportive group does.

Thank you to all of the wonderful people in my life.