The audition hamster wheel

Welcome to the audition hamster wheel. You know the one where you continue to audition and get called back but then do not book the gig. You feel awesome in the room. They are laughing or crying during your audition and you are feeling, awesome. Then you come home to silence and no gig. Maybe if I say it louder, the cheap seats will understand. NO GIG! NO GIG! NO GIG! I feel so much better now.

You may ask yourself, Is this where you give up? Where you lay down and say well I tried, time to go back to a normal existence where rejection does not exist. The truth of the matter is rejection is around every corner and in every aspect of life. Actors, performing artists, and other artists are simply faced with it on a constant basis. This is when you jump off that hamster wheel and find breath and actual living before you lose it. This is when your spiritual toolkit becomes handy. It is vital that you find joy in this business. It can be in writing, producing a short film, practicing yoga, swimming (my personal fave), working out, learning a new monologue, practicing a new song, going to see a play, watching a movie, reading a book, or whatever it takes that makes you breathe again. Because if you sit there and count each and every time that someone tells you no and then try and figure out why, this life will eat you up and spit out the remaining pieces of your soul.

Cherish the wins. Each callback. Each positive response in the room. Each new relationship that you develop from a meeting. Do not get mired in the bullshit of the hamster wheel. I pray that you have a higher power that you believe in and that your faith is strong. I also pray that you are honest enough to know that you should always be sharpening the saw when it comes to your talent and skill because God seldom blesses the lazy or the mediocre.  Live. Breathe. And live again. Do not simply exist or survive. Follow the master plan for YOUR life because God gave each of us a unique path. When we walk on someone else's we may encounter some obstacles that were never meant for us. And STOP trying to be the boss of God's plan for you. Take these moments of rejection for some quiet contemplation. And listen. We have the tendency to always think smaller than the greatness that God has in store for us.

This is a marathon not a race. Every break matters and each one gets us closer to the consummate artist that each of us strive to be. And for those with a lottery mentality, who are just seeking fame, or those unwilling to put the work in, THIS message is not for you.