empty feeling
Fri, 5 Nov 2004, 06:49 pmDilanMelis8 posts in thread
empty feeling
Fri, 5 Nov 2004, 06:49 pmi don't even know why i'm writing this but i do know that being at the tender age of 15, I have to think, what do I want to be? When thinking this i think, what do I like? First things to come to mind are, Drama and Philosophy. I want to act. In theatre, movie, commercials whatever, but i wonder what's my chance of getting there? there are so many talented people out there and i don't know if i am as good as they are. What if i'm just wasting my time trying? I mean, i get good grades and stuff, so do you reckon i should i do something like law? maybe i should go for uni and get a PhD.
what's the point of this? not really much except exactly how hard it is to be 15... or maybe i just think that and being 15 isn't hard at all... or maybe, just maybe i should go and see a psychiatrist.
reading this it seems that this has nothing to do with theatre... so i'm sorry for those who know hate me.
[%sig%]
what's the point of this? not really much except exactly how hard it is to be 15... or maybe i just think that and being 15 isn't hard at all... or maybe, just maybe i should go and see a psychiatrist.
reading this it seems that this has nothing to do with theatre... so i'm sorry for those who know hate me.
[%sig%]
Re: fill 'er up
Sat, 6 Nov 2004, 03:08 amIt's just over 20 years ago, when I was choosing my subjects for Yr 11 & 12...and I really remember the pressure everyone seemed to be under to 'get it right' and basically choose the direction the rest of your life was going to head in.
I had NO IDEA what I really wanted to do, and I simply did subjects that kept my options open...thinking maybe I'd get into teaching(?) but not really feeling that I wanted to be a teacher (so thank god I didn't!). I discovered acting as a hobby around the end of year 11, and that soon influenced most of my future choices, like the major I chose at Uni...although I don't think I really ever considered acting would become my job. It kinda just happened because I really liked it and got good at it, and I left Uni midway and have never really looked back.
There were plenty of my mates, all intelligent guys, who did top maths and science subjects (because everyone else was doing it), got into first year Engineering (because everyone else was doing it), dropped out within a year and went to work for a bank (because everyone else was doing it)...and kind of disappeared after that.
I remember thinking at the time that these guys were all expected to succeed, but virtually no one was following a path they WANTED to...I really seemed to be turning off the beaten track there. Turned out to be one of my proudest achievements, although I didn't consciously decide it...I think I was just really lucky to have found something I liked and been brave enough just to have a good go at it. But if someone had told me what I was doing at the time, it might have freaked me out a bit.
As it turns out, all that decision making we had to do at the end of Yr 10...well there's no reason why it couldn't have been made later. I'm not saying it's not important, and if you CAN make those decisions early, you're probably at an advantage....but here's the thing: you can change your mind! It's not life-threatening if you don't make the right decision, or even don't make a decision. All those guys I mentioned, they must have made new decisions after realising following the pack wasn't right for them, and are probably doing well wherever they are now.
So if you can understand you don't have to feel pressure about making a bad decision (because you can always change your mind)...there's nothing to stop you just having a go at something and seeing where it takes you. I thoroughly recommend finding something you like and are good at, but don't stress if it takes a while to find it. And in the meantime, ANYTHING you have a go at will provide you with experience you can draw upon as an actor.
I once had another job, which I loved. I qualified as a scuba instructor. And the interesting thing about that was, I had failed my science subjects at school. I hated them and couldn't see much point. But later, when I discovered a use that was fun and interesting, it didn't take me long to study what I needed to know to be able to teach others about physics, gas laws, and human biology related to scuba. So it didn't matter that I hadn't chosen those subjects in upper highschool...later, when I changed my mind, it was easy and fun to learn.
I guess my point is that from about your mid-teens it all feels pretty stressful...but you'll learn to cope. Actually, as a 35 year old it still often feels pretty stressful, and in some ways I feel no different from when I was 15...the difference is just that I'm more used to it now, and I can look back and think 'Why did I let the pressure get to me then?' I've had plenty of chances to make new decisions along the way, and they've always worked out in the end, mainly because I've found stuff I LIKED to do.
It sometimes feels like the pressure's on when you see young people like Heath Ledger or Russell Crowe (when he WAS younger) becoming successful, and you start to think, 'Well, what chance have I got?' But there are a lot of examples like Bryan Brown, or Harrison Ford, who didn't start a serious career until much later in life, after doing other things like carpentry. It's never too late, and you can always change your mind.
Of course, if you DID leave school and go straight to Hollywood like Mr Ledger, I guess you'd be pretty happy....
Hang in there!
Cheers,
Craig
I had NO IDEA what I really wanted to do, and I simply did subjects that kept my options open...thinking maybe I'd get into teaching(?) but not really feeling that I wanted to be a teacher (so thank god I didn't!). I discovered acting as a hobby around the end of year 11, and that soon influenced most of my future choices, like the major I chose at Uni...although I don't think I really ever considered acting would become my job. It kinda just happened because I really liked it and got good at it, and I left Uni midway and have never really looked back.
There were plenty of my mates, all intelligent guys, who did top maths and science subjects (because everyone else was doing it), got into first year Engineering (because everyone else was doing it), dropped out within a year and went to work for a bank (because everyone else was doing it)...and kind of disappeared after that.
I remember thinking at the time that these guys were all expected to succeed, but virtually no one was following a path they WANTED to...I really seemed to be turning off the beaten track there. Turned out to be one of my proudest achievements, although I didn't consciously decide it...I think I was just really lucky to have found something I liked and been brave enough just to have a good go at it. But if someone had told me what I was doing at the time, it might have freaked me out a bit.
As it turns out, all that decision making we had to do at the end of Yr 10...well there's no reason why it couldn't have been made later. I'm not saying it's not important, and if you CAN make those decisions early, you're probably at an advantage....but here's the thing: you can change your mind! It's not life-threatening if you don't make the right decision, or even don't make a decision. All those guys I mentioned, they must have made new decisions after realising following the pack wasn't right for them, and are probably doing well wherever they are now.
So if you can understand you don't have to feel pressure about making a bad decision (because you can always change your mind)...there's nothing to stop you just having a go at something and seeing where it takes you. I thoroughly recommend finding something you like and are good at, but don't stress if it takes a while to find it. And in the meantime, ANYTHING you have a go at will provide you with experience you can draw upon as an actor.
I once had another job, which I loved. I qualified as a scuba instructor. And the interesting thing about that was, I had failed my science subjects at school. I hated them and couldn't see much point. But later, when I discovered a use that was fun and interesting, it didn't take me long to study what I needed to know to be able to teach others about physics, gas laws, and human biology related to scuba. So it didn't matter that I hadn't chosen those subjects in upper highschool...later, when I changed my mind, it was easy and fun to learn.
I guess my point is that from about your mid-teens it all feels pretty stressful...but you'll learn to cope. Actually, as a 35 year old it still often feels pretty stressful, and in some ways I feel no different from when I was 15...the difference is just that I'm more used to it now, and I can look back and think 'Why did I let the pressure get to me then?' I've had plenty of chances to make new decisions along the way, and they've always worked out in the end, mainly because I've found stuff I LIKED to do.
It sometimes feels like the pressure's on when you see young people like Heath Ledger or Russell Crowe (when he WAS younger) becoming successful, and you start to think, 'Well, what chance have I got?' But there are a lot of examples like Bryan Brown, or Harrison Ford, who didn't start a serious career until much later in life, after doing other things like carpentry. It's never too late, and you can always change your mind.
Of course, if you DID leave school and go straight to Hollywood like Mr Ledger, I guess you'd be pretty happy....
Hang in there!
Cheers,
Craig