Join us in our quest for a more sane way of living

My actor friend approaches auditions in an incredibly healthy and sane way.

Here’s his process.

Prepare well, show up fully, assume you’re not going to get the part, and the moment you walk out the door, never think about it again.

This reveals a posture of wholeness that difficult for many performers to find. But after a dozen years in showbusiness, my friend knows that if he’s looking to gain anything from the audition, other than another experience to do his craft, then it’s a setup from the start.

He’s at a place where his esteem for himself doesn’t need to be constantly refurbished with tangible results of the work. The experience is enough for him. The opportunity to use his unique gift to make someone feel something is all that matters.

Auditions are simply a part of the job, and so, he’s going to find meaning in that process no matter what, and once it’s over, he gets on with his life.

Whitman once gave advice on this issue:

You exist as you are, that is enough. Do not trouble your spirit to vindicate itself or be understood. If no other in the world be aware, sit content, and if each and all be aware, sit content.

Will you join us in this quest for a more sane way of living?

It’s available to all of us. That expansive sense of liberation from the bondage of our effort to control other people’s perceptions of us and the work we produce, it’s waiting.

But at some point, we have to quiet our yearning for approval so we can listen to our own gifts and find out what they need from us. It is not for the faint of heart. The inevitable struggle between what we intend and what life provides, it can be soul crushing.

We can easily waste our time and energy obsessing over what we didn’t get, who’s to blame and who’s not giving us love, or like my actor friend from before, show up fully, empty ourselves of expectations, enjoy the experience and the moment it’s over, move onto the next one.

That’s what happens when you’re the proud owner of your own wholeness.

Carrying it with you wherever you go, you will exist as you are, and that will be enough.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you troubling your spirit to vindicate itself or be understood?