Lately I've been creatively frustrated.  And surprisingly not due to anything but time constraints!  Anyway here is an article I recently wrote for the Actor's Pulse newsletter which I am sharing with you because every actor will reach a point in their life when they feel a block.

I also urge ALL of you to read Jonah Lehrer's 'Imagine: The Science of Creativity'.  It is pure gold to anyone who wants to create on any level.

‘I was an accomplice in my own frustration’. - Peter Shaffer.

Think about this.  We all get frustrated, we all get annoyed, we all want things - or don’t want the things we have.  What does this mean for Actors? Take a breath, calm down and look at what’s really going on.  Stop blaming that other actor, or the script or the train.

How could we turn our frustration into contentment?  Well, the answer to that question is as individual as how you like your coffee and I am by no means pretending to be a self help book.  

Frustration however is the feeling of dissatisfaction, often caused by unresolved problems or unfulfilled needs.  Frustration in a more everyday sense is the prevention or hindering of a potentially satisfying activity. With such frustration comes emotion.  And with such emotion comes movement.  Let’s think about what this means though in terms of creativity.  A man who more succinctly summed up my argument long before I even knew what I was going to say said ‘The act of feeling frustrated is an essential part of the creative process.

Before we can find the answer — before we can even know the question — we must be immersed in disappointment, convinced that a solution is beyond our reach. We need to have wrestled with the problem and lost. Because it’s only after we stop searching that an answer may arrive.’

Don’t you all wish you’d said that?  Frustrating isn’t it! But what a beautiful point.  You will only ever succeed if you know what failure/frustration/struggle/conflict is.  People rarely tell the whole story in terms of success, they often leave out the beginning struggle and the constant setbacks and the times when they just didn’t think that what they wanted was possible.  They skip to the eureka moment and the instant success.  How many times have we all told the happy ‘I won’ moment first, then glazed over the details of the hard journey there?

It is human nature to demonstrate success, but never forget what got you there.

Frustration means you are human, it means you have wants, desires, needs, that you care, and that you want to accomplish something.  This is an excellent quality to possess if you want to be an actor. But we all must learn to harness our frustration and use it to propel us forward into success, and to remember the frustrating times in our creative journey and talk of them fondly to others who choose to walk the same path. 

You just never know. So do it.

So I got disillusioned with my blog because I thought no-one read it.  I thought, 'there are so many actors (and other people) out there with the same problems' - why would they want to read about their life in my blog.  Well, in this thing to pass the time we do called life I am constantly not only being proved wrong by peoples enthusiasm and passion, but I'm always inspired to do better because other people are bettering themselves.
Confused yet?  Intrigued?
After I had thrown in the blog idea due to self preservation and ego damage, I had three separate people tell me that they always read my blog and that 'why hadn't I written anything for ages?'.
Didn't have anything to say to that did I?!  Except thanks and mumble excuses about being so busy and not a second to spare - unfortunately the mumbling was directly after I had confessed to not being in any shows at the moment.  Excellent timing!
I also had an offer from a good friend of mine to do some writing for her based on my blog - which she didn't know was mine until about half way through when she looked at the photo. 
So my long winded rambling new shiny blog post DOES have a point!
No matter what you do, no matter how insignificant you think it is.  If you keep doing it, if you love doing it.  Someone, somewhere will appreciate you for it.  And somewhere there will be someone who is inspired or moved or smiling.
If we want to be actors, (or better people, or public spokespeople or politicians or lawyers or whoever we aspire to be)  If we don't start thinking that what we do NOW makes a difference, what will we think when more people know of us, or need us, or love us?
What you do counts (whether it be positive or negative - remember that!) so make it count, do it because you love it, not because you need praise or recognition.
A bientot !
xoxoxo

Les Liaisons Dangerous.

The other night I was lucky enough to go with a very dear friend to see 'Les Liaisons Dangerous' at the Wharf Theatre.  It was excellent.  Everything about this production was superb, the acting, the set, the costumes, the everything. there was one man who you couldn't take your eyes off though.  He was enigmatic, brilliant, and always in the very moment he was supposed to be in.  this actor happens to be a very famous Aussie actor, some may even go so far as to say a 'film star'.  But that didn't matter.  I (and nor did my friend) sit there and only see a film star.  We saw an actor who had such stage presence that we couldn't look away from him.  You wanted to constantly know what he was doing,  or what he was going to do next.
How does one 'get' stage presence?  I don't think anyone really knows, but I am going to suggest some stuff that wouldn't hurt.
Know what your doing - know who your character is, what they are doing where they are.  Know where you came from.  Know what you want.
Be prepared for change, expect anything.
Love what you do.

You don't have to be Hugo Weaving to achieve this :
xoxoxo

God it's just been too long!

Hello
I'm not used to this blogging thing yet.  I keep forgetting that someone somewhere may want something to read.  So instead I think to myself 'I'll write that later'.  Then I forget, or something else needs doing, or I am waiting for someone to get back to me with the thing I want to blog about.....
Which brings me to the current point I want to talk about.  I seem to have spent this year waiting for other people to get their act together so I can get mine.  WHY.  Why did I do that? I know from years of experience that if you want something done (whether it be properly or not) YOU HAVE TO DO IT YOURSELF.  Or at least organise everyone else yourself.  It is so pointless and tedious waiting around for an answer, or a 'yes' or whatever you need from someone else to do something YOU should do.  The person responsible for the NIKE ad 'Just Do It' was really on the money with that one.
Anyone trying to be an actor -or a writer or dancer or anything involved in the arts - needs to remember every day that in this modern era of selfishness and 'I'm too busy' you have to create your own opportunities.  You cant wait for the phone to ring, you cant wait to be discovered in the park reading your monologue book, you also cant become bitter about not succeeding when you have done nothing to put yourself on the radar.
Recently I was so disappointed in myself for not having achieved my goals for the year yet.  Then I sat back and realised I had put all the pressure of MY success on SOMEONE ELSE.  Just make that phone call, just film that scene, just make that decision.  Really - just do it - yourself.
Until next time - unless I cant find anyone to write my Blog for me.... ;)

Just Do It.

So today's blog is all about what the title suggests. Just do it.  Not only that, SHUT UP and just do it.  So often I hear people (myself included) make excuses for themselves. 'I couldn't Learn my lines I had a thing to do', 'I just don't think I'd ever get cast for this role', 'I'm too busy', 'I'm tired/hungry/poor/distracted.  Well guess what.  
You will never achieve your goals if you are constantly making excuses and shying away from really needs to be done.  Just do it.  And if you don't do it - own that you didn't do it.  Stand up to yourself and say 'I didn't do it because I didn't manage my time properly' or 'I didn't prioritise well enough'.  Or something equally effective and sounding like something straight out of a self help book minus the 'cheese'.  Because funnily enough, the minute you start owning your mistakes or the things you wish you'd done differently, is the minute you see a way to accomplish what you recently didn't.  Or even better, endeavour to not make that mistake again.   
The reason for this current sway into motivational speaker is my own recent development of excuse-making.  Why am I making these excuses?  Because I'm scared of failure and success all at once.  Sound familiar?  I make these excuses because sometimes it's easier to blame the bus than admit the fact you could of walked.
P.S - now I have a brand new shiny Mac so there is no longer my excuse for 'my computer is crap so I couldn't write my blog'. xoxoxox

Sherlock.

If you haven't checked out the tv show of 'Sherlock'. Do it.  Not only is it one of the best written shows around at the moment, but its full of excellent acting, excellent story lines and best of all good old fashioned mysteries.  Stepehen Moffat (Dr Who, Coupling, Tin Tin) writes extraordinary 1.5 hour episodes,which make you so engrossed in whats happening you forget you've essentially just watched a movie. If you want to study story structure - watch this show!  Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman make an excellent Holmes and Watson (respectively), impeccable acting.  The last episode, Martin Freeman was simply sublime. Your heart was with him the whole time, and Sherlock's 'note' was heartbreaking.
So - dare I ask the question?  For those who have seen it, what do you think happened?  Moffat has said 'there is a clue everyone has missed'.  I have a few theories, and there are plenty circulating the internet, but for those familiar with the show, and with Moffats (and Gatiss's history although he didn't write this episode) previous record all the theories I've read so far, are to plausible.  Too obvious, too un-Sherlock!  My theory? Well, i might divulge if people comment, if not, I don't want to spoil the fun xx

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So it's a public holiday and I'm working - but I need the money and I get to update my blog whilst pretending to look busy so its not too bad...
Anyway to the point of my entry, I've learned something very valuable over the last few weeks.  If your excited about something, other people will get excited too.  What does this mean for actors (and musicians and artists and writers and the like)?  Well, it means that if you want to get something up and running, or if you have an excellent idea but aren't really sure how to go about it, or if you want to JUST DO SOMETHING.  Chances are, you know somebody else who will want to help, or do it with you, or give you an opportunity to be involved with their project.  This is so important because - lets face it -none of us can actually do it on our own, we need to collaborate, we need to brainstorm, and we need support.  Many people have surprised and delighted me in their willingness to help with projects and devote their time to something that was just an idea and is now a full fledged plan.  This makes me happy, excited and proud all at once!
So I suppose the moral of my story is that we all must work as a group, support each other and we can make our dreams come true.
Wow, I should write a self help book....

uh oh.

Oh dear.
I just did thething I really didn't want to do.  Start a blog, get really excited about it, tell everyone to read it, then just kinda, well, stop.
I didn't mean to stop, truly I didn't.  I hid behind the excuse of being busy, or my internet wasn't working, or I would do it tomorrow.  In hind sight I should have started this Blog now.  I have finished a major part of my studying, and am about to launch into the scary world of no longer being an acting student concentrating on my craft, but as an actor trying to get people to pay her (although actually I'd anything for free right now....) to do some of this elusive 'acting'.
So this is a entry to say please please please keep reading, keep giving tips, keep the blog sharing dream alive.  I'm about to leave work so I cant write my review of 'The skin I live in' right now, but I will when I get home after having dinner with a few of my fav gal's.
xox