Confessions of a Single Parent (Actress)

This lovely business that we call acting is a marathon not a race. And at times, with all the auditions, meetings, and travel you can become spiritually, emotionally, and physically exhausted. How can you return to the joy that made you pursue this crazy life in the first place? You must return to the source. Earlier this year, I decided to actually look at the piles and piles of music and monologues that I had never learned or considered. And, I discovered some new energy in those pages. New characters, new melodies, and something to stretch me as a artist. I found a coach to help me rediscover the fun and free in the audition room. Later, I created some marketing tools to boost my career options. I also rediscovered a social existence and time with family. If you burn the candle at the both ends and your finances are questionable you forget about living. This means more movies, more dinners, and more quality time with my daughter and friends (near and far). I also remembered to...

At a writer's retreat this spilled out... I see images of individuals and events that I am usually avoiding. Yes! Me, the one who loves to partake wants to retreat. I see stories in my mind but rarely see myself in them. And that is okay because it allows me to keep my distance. The room feels cold and very strict. Like a classroom that I can longer be in, or else I will never manifest my destiny. Enough of that. I stand in the room and I feel invisible. And it feels good. Because I am exhausted. Never enough rest. Always on the move. Because dreams do not simply become reality without discipline and consistency. Find my voice in the silence, the invisible, the loud, and the soft. Because it exists right beyond the fear to do. I never understood fear because it is my long time companion. It carries me over into new pages and new entries willing itself to defy and stop me. And with laughter or grit, I simply take it with me on a writer's trip. A trip where my voice is not ...

Lately, I have been back in the classroom, working with young people, or teaching adults who have been told constantly that (as a good friend said) "Their shit smells like vanilla." This is result of giving everyone a certificate at the end of the year. This is after years of no longer using red ink to correct papers because it causes some sort of psychotic break. This comes after watching lots of untalented people achieve 5 minute of stardom on reality television or simply being told that they were awesome when they are not.  I am writing this blog to inform and warn that this behavior and practice needs to cease and stop. If a child sings off key and is never corrected they should not be given a certificate that awards them for awesome singing. If a child is given an assignment and they continue to not submit it correctly even after several corrections they should get the appropriate grade to match their efforts and their progress. In other words, stop rewarding lemons fo...