Parallel and Opposite Directions

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.

Being an artist and pursuing a career being an artist, as an artist are very different things.

Being an artist always begins an ends with you.

Pursuing a career certainly has much to do with you, but it really begins elsewhere and leans through you.

What do you I mean?

Even though none of this is linear, for reasons of description, let’s create a linear idea:

You have two parallel paths: The first is your artistic life that weaves and loops and is being created as you walk it. There is another path that is parallel but not identical or equal. It often feels elusive, frustrating, unattainable, fickle. This is the career path.

Do they ever intersect? Do they ever overlap? Yes, they can, but they must remain very defined and specific. In fact, it’s possible to approach them from different directions.

The artistic path is led by you - you are the beginning and the end and the middle and the now and the present.

If you begin to approach the career path from the DESTINATION approach and work BACKWARD in your parallel motion, your artistic self will meet it organically.

Where do you want your career to be, RIGHT NOW? Begin there. On a certain TV show or shows? On a certain stage? In a certain production?

Let’s create a scenario to make it easier to create for your direction:

Performer A wants to be performing at high level regional theatre, or on a national tour.

So, let’s work backward. Research those tours, and those theatres: who is casting for them? What shows are they casting? Where are they located? How do I get in front of those casting directors/artistic directors literally and/or virtually?

Do that research and get that work done.

Now, what do you NEED TO HAVE IN PLACE to be seen by those casting directors? Do you have a website? Do you have the necessary industry memberships to submit auditions if required? Do you have up to date headshots, resume, and recordings of songs/monologues that reveal your artistry, and how you want to be seen?

Do that research and get that work done.

Still moving backward, who are they casting? What level of performer is being cast? Do these performers have lots of credits, or are they starting out, or is a mix of both? Where you do fit into that possibility?

And now the research meets the artistic craft: What does this process DEMAND of you? Physically, vocally, dramatically, psychically, emotionally? Do you currently have the stamina to handle the demand? Do you have the craft to handle the role, the show? Is your life set up to handle the demands of the tour, the number of weeks or months away, etc etc.

What do you have in place to develop said craft? What are you doing to build stamina? What are you preparing in your life for change or possibility? Have you got your team in place to guild you fully, with respect, and honesty?

I hope this makes some sense. I see frustration in artists who perform when they are looking at the direction of business and artist as the same. It simply is not. There are so many steps of “being ready”. They are parallel, yes, but very much opposite in momentum and direction. Once we recognize that, we are able to create much more tangible goals and timelines that make sense for us.

Instead of saying “why aren’t they hiring me?” , start figuring out who “they” are, and then how you get to them so they know you are alive, so they know what you do, so they know you are available. Ask questions. We are often so reluctant to lean in and ask, thinking it’s the “wrong thing to do”. I call bullshit. ASK. What’s the worst that can happen? You don’t get a response. That speaks volumes about who you asked, not you asking.

As you continue your artistic journey, pull that opposite parallel toward you. You can be in many places at the same time, as the many facets of you discover their purpose.

Let me know if this resonates with you.

with fondness & fierceness,