This holiday season will likely have far less travel and a bit more trips within your house. That being said it is an ideal time to use the holidays as a reset. What does this mean to you as a performer?
As performers, the hustle and constant striving to get ahead can cause us to forget that self-care is equally essential. When we’re constantly and fervently seeking higher and better results, we often forget to rest and reflect. We often think that if we go, go, go we can achieve more and more and more. As a performer, it’s important to have drive, but even the best artists take a break before diving back in.
A wise teacher once said, “an overachiever will overachieve at overachieving.” Positive psychology says that happiness is the joy we feel while moving toward our potential, not the joy we feel once arriving at it. Many performers are missing the joy of the journey by always wanting to achieve or move to the next level.
Make the holidays about Y.O.U.
The holidays are a time for slowing down and restoring. Most casting offices completely shut their doors between Christmas and the first Monday after the new year begins. Casting directors too need rest! This is one of the few times a year a performer can take a much-needed rest without the worry of missing an audition or opportunity. Like a phone being plugged in to recharge its batteries, we too need moments to refuel.
Take time this holiday to ask yourself what you need to move into the new year as your most energized and capable self. Would it serve you to do some vocal work or get into an explorative scene study class? Do you need to devote more hours to sleep each night? Being in deep communication with what your body and heart need, helps to prevent you from running out of gas on the next phase of your journey.
One of the best and most nourishing ways to reset during the holidays is to stop and acknowledge how far you’ve come this past year. Certainly, you will always desire more, but pausing to celebrate your wins is an easy way to open the floodgates to bigger opportunities and growth. Take some time. Write out what you are proud of. What did you overcome? From this foundation, you’re much more ready to tackle your goals and ambitions for this upcoming one.
You’ve been given a tremendous amount of talent. You’ve been given this one magnificent body and mind. Take time to fuel these upcoming weeks so not only will you run optimally but happily toward your dreams and goals. The projects, auditions, and opportunities that await you deserve the best of you, and so do you.