Bring more WILDFIRE!
In training programs in acting and singing, students often fall into the mindset that they are slogging through school, even when they are enjoying their program. The over-arching “big brother” of school, matches the “big brother” that is their parents: there is always something or someone in an over-arching position. It creates a back-of-the-brain trepidation or doubt ceiling - they climb only so high on their internal expansion ladder. And, because there is so little time to check in internally, and the program is (rightly so) focussed on results and performance, the “work towards improvement” can have a lot of fear-based energy fueling it. This tends to manifest in practicing for the wrong reasons: the goal of homework becomes skewed. Practicing in order to “not fuck up in front of their peers and teachers” is completly different than practicing towards an opportunity to explore one’s inner world and discover new universes of joy and possibility.
So we don’t always see their heart, mind and soul running on all cylinders in recital hour, vocal lab, or acting juries.
These issues must be fought by students and instructors together. The instructors must be congruent in their thoughts and actions so to create a truly safe space for the students to explore, fail and move on, and the students need to trust themselves and their process with as little judgement and comparison as possible.
If not, we get careful, soggy performances.
We need more wildfire in the heartland.
When our Vagal tone is low, we tend not to grant ourselves permission to let loose and shine brightly, like the supernovas we are. If it’s one thing I see in 99.99% of my acting, singing and public speaking students (not to mention anxietals, asthmatics and yogis - funny that), it’s fear of doing the “wrong thing”.
- Doubt kills creativity
- Doubt kills expression
- Doubt kills imagination
- Doubt kills permission
- Doubt kills breathing
- Doubt kills the dance
- Doubt kills high notes
- Doubt kills text and character
- Doubt kills social connectivity
- Doubt kills freedom
- Doubt kills joy
So many are practicing our Art through a smeared, smoke-stained window of “what will they think of me?”...
Please stop dampening yourself. Fuck ‘em and GO FOR IT! Bring More Wildfire! 🔥🔥🔥
