Facing something new makes the bogey-man come a-knockin’, I swear it’s true. Overwhelm, terror, excitement, oh my!
My missive comes a day early this week for a good reason… Giving you time to take action if you choose.
Tomorrow evening, Wednesday October 29,at 6pm PST, I do my first public reading from my forthcoming book, The Curse of the Neverland. Attending is free, just pick up your phone and I’ll read to you! You must opt-in first at www.denisedee.com to get the call-in information. You need to do that today, Tuesday Oct. 28th, if you haven’t already.
Yes, I’ve performed for years. I’ve danced, sung, recited lines, performed mime, and MC-ed, among other things, from the stage. But in my experience, terror, overwhelm, and excitement never go away. Not when it’s new, not when it matters, not when you care.
But there is a trick to managing it.
The trick that every actor worth his or her salt learns is to take on the stakes, and to use what you have to say/sing/express, to get what you want. Often, there is someone else on stage with you. You say and do everything in your power to get them to do what you want them to do. The nature of a good drama is that it never works—but when it doesn’t, you just have to try harder, or change your strategy.
In other words, once you put all your attention on the other person, or on your audience if you’re performing alone, your fear fades along with your awareness of yourself.
And for me, performing “blind” as I’ll be doing, I’ll just imagine you. I’ll imagine your encouraging face, I’ll make your expression “rapt” in my mind’s eye, and I’ll let my story carry me along, trusting it will carry you as well.
Coach’s Challenge: How can you take this secret and use it to help you? What new thing are you facing that has you quaking in your boots? Now. Decide to go after it, and put every ounce of your attention on making it happen. Once step at a time, do what needs to be done, say what you need to say, convince those you need to convince. Keep you attention on “the other,” not on yourself. Let me know how it goes!
Want to use this article? Great! Just please include the following:
