Advice on Handling the Industry

Imagine 

You are standing on a beach 

And alongside you is a bunch of other actors 

You’re all facing the water (the industry)

And you’re all holding your surfboards (your skillsets)

Some of you have long boards

Some of you have short boards

Some of you have pro boards 

Some of you have something resembling a plank of wood

In front of you is the ever changing swell

Sometimes it looks easy

Other days it looks impossible

But on this day

(It might be the first day after graduating from drama school

Or maybe the day you finally get an agent)

The decision is made to give it a crack

So you grab your board

And dive in

You begin paddling out

Bit wobbly

But at least you’re in it

You’re in the industry!

You look up

To see a big wave (audition) bearing down on you 

You breathe

You focus

And you get smashed

That first rejection feels like nature just dumped on you

You come back to the surface

You feel like a drowned rat 

You think about turning around and going back to shore

You breathe

You decide to keep going 

You realise you have to learn to duck dive

You have to learn to manage rejection

Each rejection begins to feel slightly more manageable 

You notice your peers around you

Some of them got smashed by one or two waves and decided to return to shore

You keep going

Until

You make it passed the break

Things are easier out their 

In the wide open air 

You simply sit on your board and wait for a wave (a job)

You see one

You scramble for it

Desperately 

Your first wave!

You paddle

You put in all your effort

You try force it to work

“This is my wave!” You shout 

And…

You face plant 

You realise trying to force things to work in your favour doesn’t quite work in the real world 

You realise not all waves are meant for you

So you keep floating out there

You begin to build patience 

Because realise the importance of being able to wait well in an uncertain industry 

Sometimes you sit and watch your colleagues pop up with glee as they ride a wave passed you

You shout out to them as they flow by

“YEEEEWWW!”

They look at you and see that you’re genuinely thrilled for them

They smile back 

They will remember this 

You’ve been in the surf for a while now

You notice all your peers are not all in the same place at the same time

Some are sitting on the beach after getting smashed by one too many waves and are just needing some rest

Others are paddling out continuing to try make it passed the rejections

Some are sitting next to you waiting for their wave to come

Others are panting furiously as they try to control every wave and make it the one for them

Some are simply bobbing around whilst lying on their board soaking in the sun and smiling

Others are riding the barrel of a life time

Some have given up and gone home

And that’s okay

You breathe easy

You’re in the arena

You’re doing it

Then 

You look up

An opportunity is coming

There is something about this one

It feels right

Feels like home

You take a breath

You slow down

You calmly get yourself in permission

You remember what your mentors told you

You remember to focus on what you can control 

And you go for it

You paddle

You try

It’s a bit wobbly at first but this time you notice the wobbles and bringing it back to doing it your way

You don’t try surf the way you think you should

You do it the way you really want to 

You’re just at the point of no return

And despite your fears

You commit 

You pop up

You can’t believe it 

You’re up!

You got the gig!

You’re doing it

You’re doing the thing you’ve thought about, trained for, practiced over an over again

It’s exhilarating 

You notice yourself overthinking

Thats fine

Its your first gig!

Then there are moments where the mind goes quiet and you simply are where you are

It feels beautiful

You’re in flow

You surrender to wherever the gig takes you

You ride the wave the whole way back to shore

You notice the experience is coming to an end

You lean back

And just flop into the water

You just had that first ride in the industry!

You feel proud

You feel grateful 

You breathe easier 

Then 

After a few moments to get your bearings again

And when everything has gone quiet 

You ask yourself 

“What now?”

You look up 

You turn around

And you realise

You have to do the entire thing all over again 

You have to paddle out and get smashed by those rejections

All. Over. Again.

This plays with your mind

To enjoy another wave

You have to go through the struggle

The discomfort 

The pain

Again 

And after doing all that work

And getting another gig

This cycle will keep repeating itself

You zoom out

You begin to understand what this career path entails 

Doubt creeps in

Is it worth it?

Is it worth getting rejected five, ten, fifty times just so you can enjoy another wave?

You look around

It’s been a while out their in the industry

You notice there are less of your peers out there 

Is this what you want to be doing?

You think about how sustainable this life is

Things are getting complicated 

Your mind fills with noise

Ugh

The requirements 

You have to take care of things in order to keep doing this

You have to take care of your health so you can keep paddling

You have to take care of your wealth so you can afford necessities

You have to take care of your skills so you can keep riding those bigger waves which are sitting just outside your comfort zone 

You have to take care of the people you love so you can enjoy the water with them

You have to take care of your vehicle so you can simply keep driving to the beach

The level of work required just to ride a bloody wave!

Noise noise noise 

STOP

You tell your mind

You’ve had enough of the overwhelming thoughts 

You breathe

You know

Something is worth it

Your body knows

It knows the feeling of play

The feeling of contributing generously when you step into that place of flow 

You know what home feels like for you

So you accept

You decide to keep going

You surrender to all that you can’t control 

And thus 

The rhythm begins to build

Your duck-diving has improved 

So you’re handling the rejections better than when you first entered the industry 

They still hurt - But you now have ways to make it through

You make it passed the break

You enjoy waiting patiently out there 

You trust that next wave is coming with your name on it

You ride it your way

Then

You turn around

You start again

You’re just in it now

You’re in the arena

This is your normal now

You’re home.

Occasionally 

You see the new little grommets line up on the beach with their boards looking excitedly (or trepidatiously) at the water

You tell them to just start paddling out

That they will learn more by getting uncomfortable than they ever could by sitting on the beach & overthinking things

You know how important it is for them to start understanding the tides, rhythms and swells of the industry 

As well as how important it is to just get smashed by those first few waves

Because you know how capable they are.

Every once and a while

You see a new actor on the beach

Get approached by some folks on a jet ski

“Don’t worry about getting smashed by those waves!

We’ll take you the easy way around all those rejections

We’ll get you some barrels without having to feel uncomfortable in the water”

You see the actors’ eyes light up at the suggestion of a short cut

You see them hop on and get a ride straight passed the difficult break 

You watch them get towed onto that barrel of a life time without even having to paddle

You see the sheer delight in their face

A part of you feels strange

Like you’re watching someone have everything handed to them

A feeling of jealousy pops up 

“Why can’t I get my free ride passed the break?

Why can’t I just get the barrel of a life time?

Why can’t I be given a wave that gets me on the cover of every magazine in the world”?

You feel bitter

Resentful

You know that resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die

But you just can’t to stop the darkness 

“What’s going on - this isn’t me!?”

You realise what being in the industry is doing to your mind

“I hate this!”

You scream

You feel defeated

You feel like you’re being told to paddle in

You sit down on the sand 

You can’t fight it anymore

So you just give up

Your body breathes

Heaves 

You give it permission to just feel what its feeling

Release what it wants to release

It feels surprisingly good

After a while you feel open

Like you’ve let something go

Like you’ve surrendered 

You accepted where you actually are

Hunched over on the ground

You look up 

You notice something

That grommet

Who got the free ride

They are standing at the waters edge

They’re struggling now

They haven’t had to do this before

They haven’t had to struggle through the chaos in order to catch a wave

After getting the most amazing opportunity

They have still found themselves in the same place as everyone else

Something clicks 

You realise

No artist avoids the cycles of nature 

No matter what happens

At some point

Every actor has to face the struggle of rejections

Every actor has to deal with the chaos of the industry

But every actor is simply moving through the cycles of the industry at different times

This makes you stop

You begin to think about what’s truly most important 

What are the things that are actually worth caring about?

Actually worth giving your attention to?

Things like 

Finding joy in the effort 

Working on growing your skills

Being out there with people you love 

And simply giving yourself permission to enjoy riding the wave itself when one comes along with your name on it

And sometimes, knowing when to put the board down and go get an ice cream

Hope this helps 

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