Actors need to shut down sometimes. Start over. And not with all the pages open (our old thoughts) and apps (our old beliefs). We need to give our brain the opportunity to refresh. To think anew. To think Better. This is the core of Emotional Well Being. Decide that your brain gets some love. The most powerful tool you have for an abundant life, the problem solver, the dreamer, the guide. Your beautiful brain needs a ReBoot.

At the base of the mountain of anxiety is the cause.  Maybe you have experienced anxiety for so long, you no longer remember the original cause.  And one long ago cause, can connect to another, until you have constructed a habit... a mountainous habit...of anxiety.

When you experience waves of anxiety, or regular bouts, whether while working as an actor, or in other moments of your life, you may think you have to live with it forever. There are ways, that work for many of us, of starting to remove the layers that contribute to that feeling of helplessness.

Start with knowing your brain gets good at doing what your brain does. If you feel anxious every day, your brain is Excellent at achieving Anxiety. You can unravel this. Your anxiety likely accumulated over years. Let's reduce it much faster.

NOTE: If you are nonfunctioning due to anxiety, or have any questions about your mental health, please seek counsel from a medical professional.

Reviews are not likely to go away. An incredible gift to yourself as an actor is learning how to manage your mind around them. For some of us, they provoke anxiety, fear, all the negative feelings we dread. Some of us avoid them. Pretend we don't care. Or .... decide how we feel about our work based on them...

Your power lies in what you can control. And this is true whether a review is glowing or damning. Reviews are part of being professional. These folks who write them, are doing a valuable job for their readers. But it is, an Opinion. It does Not Have to be yours. And it does not have to Change how you Feel about your work. This podcast will give you some ideas, some thoughts, for dealing with them in a positive way. There will be good and there will be less so, if you are in this world for the long game. Game On.

We Love the Thought, 'This Will Fix Me'. or 'This Will Change Everything'. When really, the 'this', is us. Our thoughts, our feelings, and what we do because of them. Coaching is a phenomenal way to clear up the Thoughts in your mind - those sentences which linger and languish, which are Not Helping You lead the life you want.

The humanness, however, is here to stay. The mess. The stress. The reactions our Brain wants to pivot toward when the world starts doing the things the world does. When the people do the things that make us recoil. When they, also, do the human thing.

Learning to manage those thoughts and bring forward the ones that Help, that Heal. This is a practice. This is love for your mind. This is your renewable power in the storm. Let's Go.

Actors who are Parents. Yes, we are out there in big numbers, but the number of Working women who are parents of small children and professional actors is small. And the number for Working Actors who are pregnant and showing is even smaller. We would love for that to change. In the meantime, this episode features a few observations from my life as a pregnant actor, and some thoughts to support you when and IF you decide you want to be a parent.

Here's the theme: The Right Time to have a Baby is when you Have a Baby!

Deciding to Decide is one of the Biggest Wastes of Your Valuable Time. Actors can make decisions on a scene, a character, a moment, so efficiently, yet we drag our heels to Decide in Real Life. Let's get that time back. Let's get excellent at Making Decisions.

Decisions can Be Your Superpower.  Let's Go.

What do you take Pride in as an Actor? There is an opportunity every day, every audition, every scene, to offer your best work. This does not guarantee the Results you envision. But you have a much more likely chance to get where you want to be if you bring Top Shelf Acting to each opportunity.  And in time, Top Shelf can become your usual.  Who doesn't want that feeling?  That no matter the project, no matter how you feel about your suitability for the role, no matter the director and cast and design and support, You bring You.  A little out of reach for many, but available to you, if you decide that's how you work.

Top Shelf Acting is a decision.

To be human is to feel pain. As actors, we wrestle with how to channel pain we have experienced into the roles we play, and ride the continuum between reliving experiences and with them, that pain, with the energy that consumes. How much is the art form itself, and how much is feeling something afresh? We all find our way with this. But apart from all the pain we might choose to excavate for our work, there is the pain we live with. The sensation of pain that starts in the body.  And the emotional pain that starts in our minds.

This podcast is about feeling the pain cleanly, without dwelling there. Without adding unnecessary suffering.  We can recognize the 50/50 of our emotional lives as part of being human. It is so freeing to understand that we can choose to change our thoughts and lessen our pain, or at least, not prolong it.

Something happens.

We have a thought about it.

It creates a painful feeling.

We allow it.

Our power lies with the Thought we have about it.

If there is a part of you that dreads tax season. If there is resistance to paying, or calculating, or owing, or 'getting something wrong'. If you are in a negative space about the amount you are paying, or getting refunded. If you are feeling overwhelmed about taxes and want to feel better... This podcast will reframe what our taxes do for us as actors, and as civic minded artists.

There are also practical tips and a simple method to track your tax paperwork through the year so you are organized enough to just think about it once a year, instead of multiple days of dread.

Let's Go. We can Feel Abundant about our Taxes, and love what power they can have to serve our community.

Even such a simple word, three letters, can have the ability to open a window in your mind when your brain is feeling stuck. Yet. This simple tool is incredibly effective. Try it when your brain is telling you your Thoughts are Facts. They probably aren't.

If we don't direct our brain, it does its job on autopilot.  Which is to protect us.  To always look for ways to survive.  To ferret out danger.  Our power as evolved humans comes from the ability to notice this, and adapt our thoughts.  

Yet.  A simple word with a lot of power.  Ours to use anytime we need it.  And Actors are great with words.