skip to main |
skip to sidebar
"Confidence is the power you have over your own personality. It is what allows you to be unafraid in your own persona, to stand tall and easy on your own feet, to accept criticism freely- and at the same time to rise above it."
-Robert Cohen
Confidence, something that everyone wants, few actually have, and many only have for a while. It's 'the slipperiest surface of all,' which is true for some, but for those who really get it, reality is that they can't be held down no matter how hard the world pulls at them, no matter any circumstance they may be in. True confidence in oneself is something that never leaves, because the owner of it just knows.
As an artist, you should be well aware that confidence is what will drive you to success in your profession. Sure you may believe that inspiration gives you confidence, that's fair, but can inspiration carry you through a lasting career? Say you're a performer, certainly you can rock the house when you're really feeling it, but what if the feeling is thrown off, what if your life takes a hard turn and inspiration is away from your sight? The only way through those situations is knowingwho you are as a person and as a performer.
Confident people are the targets of the insecure, but it doesn't matter because they are able to stand tall even when facing the hard truths, because there is no denial process that sends every insecure person to the bottom. You will know and be okay with your flaws and at the same time, be able to deal with them because they will never have control in your life.
When you believe in yourself, you will have an authority that allows you to rise above the issues made known to you. Though you may be attacked by others who refuse to accept your success, you will have a stability, a freedom to be authentic, to be true to who you are, a freedom to attack every performance with everything you should be putting out, because you know you can, and because your confidence can't be touched.
I personally have come out of a low in my confidence; I thought for a long time that what I had was perminent, but then I lost it, and I had no idea what it was or how to get it back. Its like I was sure of myself, positive in my abilities and overall, very happy, and then some personal flaws were brought to my attention. As a perfectionist, I naturally began to focus my energy on correcting what was wrong with me. I ended up losing sight of what was making me so happy before, and all I wanted was to make right the problems that I had with myself.
So I fell from confidence to near depression, because I couldn't succeed in making things right, certainly not fast enough, and out of it all came a frustration that wouldn't go away. I do a very good job of hiding things as anyone who knows me can testify to, so while this was going on, it must have seemed to others like an off day on my part, but it felt deeper than that. I had lost control of my reality and felt powerless to gain it back, I was walked over by the people around me, was shaky in all decisions, and I couldn't even think clearly because of the giant problem in front of me that needed to be fixed.
All the while, the solution was simple, yet unbelieveable. The answer to my problem was not to fix it, but to accept it, to allow it, and to allow my true self to return. Through the hard times, it is confidence and knowledge of who you are that will hold your head above water and ultimately send you soaring above the ground.
Confidence is power,
-The Artist
This post is on a more personal level than most, it's not exactly about the arts, but If life counts as an art, then I'm still on track. I'd like to take some time to adress the topic of mental and emotional state.
I often find that I'm either on top of the world, that life couldn't do much better to satisfy me and that everything's going great, or I feel under par, like I'm not where I should be, and that I'm being held down by the world. Nothing to fear though, I'm not bipolar, I'm actually very consistent, but like I said, I have my stretches of greatness and of shame.
I usually find myself sinking after I've been at the top of my game for a while, and my life is just starting to feel like a permanent 'high.' What's so great about these stretches is that I get past the point where it's all about me. I love it when I can get past myself and finally live in awareness of what's around me, unfortunately, this can't be every day. Eventually, something always seems to creep up on me and throw me back down to earth, (and not in the way that's cool).
It's really the worst feeling in the world to be amazing at something one day, and by the time the next day rolls around, you've lost what made you so good. It's like you've suddenly forgotten everything that you've been working so long and hard to achieve. However sometimes forgetting isn't really even the problem; sometimes all it takes is a realization that brings back the humility. Don't get me wrong here either, being humble is the way to go, but there are certain things that I'd like to be able to get past and not have knocking in my face all day long.
When I am at my best, it's because I've made a conscious decision to just let go and allow my true self to come out. Forgetting all of my insecurities, my strategies, mistakes, and truly living in the moment is what works best for me. That's why acting is such an amazing thing (along with other performing arts); it demands for a person to give their entire self in order to focus and to be in the moment %100.
This has been a special post because It marks a new direction for "Insight From the Artist," and now this blog has been officially broadened to focus on anything related to the art of life.
- The Artist
It takes a group effort to make a great production. No matter how close to perfection you can take your work on your own, the work can be so much better by just adding perspectives of other artists to the work.
I can guarantee that the work will go at least from 5/10 to 9/10 in audience appeal because the target audience expands when multiple artists are working to make the project so much better. I find that when I'm writing scripts, that I can come up with a good plot and some decent ideas, but I have certain weak points (such as applying effective use of allusion). I usually take a lot of suggestions from others to patch the holes in my work. As an artist, don't allow pride or greed to keep your work from it's greater potential.
Its the same with writing music. You can sit down at a keyboard and compose a catchy tune if you have the talent; you might even be able to create a hit song. However, I can guarantee that in order for the song to have the depth to appeal to everyone for an extended period of time (that means not getting played out after a month on the radio), the song must come from many people's hearts. That really is the difference between a hit and a classic, both get popular, but the best art never gets old because of the amazing depth of it's existence.
Little things like the events that happened in the writer's life that affected the story: the time that a book was released, the direct impact that it had on the world once it got out there, the way it changed lives, changed the media, created memories that will forever be attached to the art. These things usually don't happen when an artist relies on their own input alone for the outcome of the art.
Filmmakers know this better than anyone. Have you ever seen a one-man film? You may have enjoyed it, I don't know, but I say it's quite amateur and can't be compared to the greats that make their way to the Academy Awards. The rule is that the more collective heart that goes into making something amazing, the more unique and irreplaceable the work will be. The world will receive the product and when they do, it will be the thing that they never knew they were missing, because they will be represented by one of the many hearts involved in the making.
- The Artist
Less than a week to go until the big it all begins, "12 Angry Jurors" opens May 5th for a matinee performance, and the evening performances will be on May 6th and 7th, show starting at 7:00pm. Tickets are $10 per person, and are running out quickly so act fast to get a seat.
The rehearsal process has been a demanding one, and because we had only a few weeks to pull together such a big production, everyone involved has been at working at this non-stop. We're talking seven-hour after school rehearsals all week long! Remember to add on the solo character building time at home and the full workload of a senior high school student, THIS HAS BEEN TOUGH.
I'm surprised that I'm even surviving with my regular schedule; I've had to put some commitments on hold, there have been opportunities that I've passed up, and my sleeping routine has been shattered. However, I've learned some great strategies, when I'm drained in the evening, the house is still awake and it's tough to focus, I just bypass the stress of forcing work, and I sleep then. The trick is that I wake myself up in the early ours of the day (1-3am works best) and I then take the time to do some undisturbed work. This is really a rewarding strategy because stress is eliminated, the mind is at it's clearest at 1am. You will have earned yourself a good 5 hours of super-productive time that would otherwise be squandered (along with your sleep). no need to worry about being tired, just plan out the number of hours of sleep you need and take those guaranteed hours instead of allowing the work to cut off your time.
This has allowed me to take the pressures of the production very well. It has saved me from so much stress, and it's allowed me to memorize a 2 hr script quite rapidly, (and I've found that most of what I remember was rehearsed between 1 and 5 am). The early morning hours can be the most golden for personal alone time, they are truly peaceful and rewarding.
As a cast, we've encountered our share of obstacles; memorizing the entire script is surprisingly, even harder than it seems. But we have pulled it together as of late and now we're moving at full force. MAKE SURE TO CATCH 12 ANGRY JURORS, COMING SOON!
- The Artist
The Eminence Production Company had another special visitor by the name of Domo Kovacevic. He's a self-made multi-millionaire! He really just graced us with his presence, sharing his life lessons that helped to shape him.
Domo's story is really amazing; he went from being a young, drug-addicted kid, to a rehab institute, to personal trainer, but he ended up losing his job. And he shared with us that when he learned the secret of earning residual income, his life turned around. Eventually his income grew to amazing levels, and now he claims to have so much money that he doesn't know what to do with it. He took himself to the point where he never has to work another day in his life; he can enjoy his family, vacation, and live a happily retired life at a young age.
What is so unique about Domo is his way of thinking. he believes that a person's body is seperate from who they are, and not only that, he also believes that the mind is no more who a person is than the body. This had me confused at first, I couldn't think of how you could possibly identify a person as something other than their mind or body but it soon became clear that Domo meant people are spiritual beings that need not be defined by mind or body alone.
It really makes sense because so often, people find that their mind is ruining their life. Through experience I've found that insecurity is a product of the mind and nothing else, that a person's perception of reality is based on what they've learned to be true. A person's appearance need not be amazing by the world's standards for them to truly believe that they are beautiful. Likewise, an extremely good-looking person can be extremely self-conscious, believing that they are ugly.
As an artist, you may allow thinking to interfere with your performance, and it may cause you to fail at creating true art. The goal is to get over yourself, to get in tune with your mind, body and spirit. So make sure take care of your body, quiet the mind, and let your spirit out!
- The Artist
