Hey Bonnie!!

When I get the actor blues, I make a cup of earl gray and read archived Bonnie columns until I feel less shitty.

Today’s were random articles, snippets of this and snippets of that, but something that really stood out this morning was a bit about torturing yourself (something I am quite good at).

I’m moping about rejections, when rejections are YESES in disguise. (A NO is a YES to trying.) At the same time, we can’t get all woo-woo with our careers and say, “Welp, guess it’s not meant to be. Guess it wasn’t my path,” etc.

While it isn’t exactly torturing yourself, it’s letting yourself off the hook, sometimes justifying and legitimizing your “failure” by making excuses. There is such a fine line between “at least I tried, because I gave it my all and shared my story and my heart,” and “at least I tried, ’cause I showed up and stuff and guess it’s not meant to be.”

YES, perhaps, that particular meeting or audition wasn’t meant to be, but you have control over what can and cannot be as well.

While I’m making my list of bookings, I’m going to keep in mind my list of rejections and see them as huge leaps of trying, of putting love out there (something we can put out and know it’s floating around without directly coming back to us). And I’ll remember that maybe I could have prepared better, I could have researched more and been more patient, but I’ll use that for my future opportunities.

In the meantime, I thank YOU for your new and archived advice, your courageous kind support, and the “Bonnie Knows Best” words of love that keep me going after what feels like endless rejection.

My best to you and Keith and kitties,
Bipsie Rian

Bipsie, I adore you. Thank you. I love hearing from actors about the value in these archives, and how there’s almost a “no one can just eat one” quality to them, once you dive in and start reading ’em.

As you well know, I celebrate those things we can control in this business, while trying to provide creative ideas about how to weather those bits that are outside of our control without feeling powerless or rudderless in a massive ocean of “what’s next.”

I think the inner work we can do — to have a healthy mindset — is some of the most valuable, yet the most under-served, when we weigh it out against the time we spend running around town to hit workshops or get clear (for the 10th time) on our type or redoing our reel *again*.

Thank you for giving yourself a dose of the archives, especially when you’re in an actor funk. Stand guard at that gate and don’t let your head get turned around. There is *always* something we can be doing to take our careers (and our lives) in the more positive direction. It’s just a choice… followed by an action.

Here’s to more of the good stuff!


Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!


Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/001642.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.

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