Dark Chocolate and Shakespeare

I have been fostering quite an addiction to Shakespeare lately.  As far as addictions go, I figure I could be far worse off than craving a bit (or perhaps quite a plethora is more accurate) of intelligent prose from the Bard now and again.

I've always had a deep love of used book stores, and now that I've begun expanding my drama and classic literature collection, I appreciate them even more.  There is nothing better than spending hours digging through old books.  I also truly cannot get enough of that smell.  Mmm, the aroma of ancient philosophy, renaissance poetry, and medieval texts.  What more could one ask for in life?

Just yesterday I visited Books Revisited.  Or, more accurately, I revisited Books Revisited for probably the hundredth time.  In fact, I revisited Books Revisited as a visitor while visiting the visitors also visiting a similar vicinity.  The redundancy department of redundancy strikes again!  The department of alliteration would also like to take partial credit for the compilation of the previous sentences.

But I digress.  Whilst visiting Books Revisited, (don't worry; I won't start that again) I further fleshed out my drama collection with the purchase of seven books of plays by various playwrights.  My total came to about £33.71 (for you Americans reading, $20.79).  No, I did not actually pay in pounds, as I think that would have confused the rather quite American cashier.  In fact, it probably would have confused my rather quite mostly American self.

This collecting of plays, dramas, classic literature, and so forth does have a more practical purpose. Of course, I might ask; what better purpose is there than personal enjoyment?  However, as a theatre major, and one with goals related to the professional world of thespians; I realize I must know my playwrights and literature rather well.  Who wants to discover the perfect audition opportunity, only to realize they have 24 hours to memorize four Shakespearean sonnets, two contemporary dramatic monologues, and one soliloquy of a comedic nature?  I rather think that may be an exaggeration, but this is the theatre, my friends.  Anything goes.  (If you started singing music from that show in your head as you read that last comment, give yourself five thespian points.  Don't ask me what they're good for.)  Having run this particularly nightmarish scenario through my head, I decided it was best to begin marking monologues.  I would also like to note that the nightmarish scenario actually did come to me in the world of the subconscious, in a dream wherein I arrived at an audition only to realize I was unprepared, as I had no Shakespearean monologue ready.  Horrors!

But fear not, brave readers; for I have begun to remedy this problem already.  I have started with Hamlet; I saw it at the Jungle Theatre last year, and I had not yet read the play.  It was my first time seeing Shakespeare performed live, and was probably one of the greatest experiences of my life.  However, I did really wish I could have been onstage performing with them; I would have even been happy to play Yorick.  ... Please give yourself another five totally useless really awesome thespian points if you found that at all amusing.  This point system is starting to sound like Whose Line is it Anyway.  Heck, you can even have another point if you watch that show.

Back on the matter of Hamlet; I am reading it quite thoroughly, and have depleted my post-it note supply quite a bit already.  I'm not sure how I plan on making it through all my plays without ordering post-it notes in gargantuan bulk quantities.  I have been marking possible monologues for memorization and/or closer study, as well as making note of pretty much any line or chunk of dialogue I find particularly clever, amusing, or enlightening.  This unfortunately means that I have all but marked every single page of the reading thus far.  #thespianproblems, anyone? (Note to self: Create a future blog post or add a gadget containing a list of the aforementioned.)

Well, I seem to be coming to an end in my rambling, but I realize I have not made a single mention of dark chocolate, thus making my title rather misleading.  Now that I have, however, such a claim cannot be made.  Don't worry, I won't pull the ridiculously ambiguous and irrelevant card.  The dark chocolate is an important part of this post, and an important part of a balanced diet.  It's important because: 

1. It's delicious.
2. It makes you want to read this post to find out how dark chocolate is possibly connected to Shakespeare.
3. No, really, it's just delicious.

Okay, so I lied.  I may or may not have pulled the ridiculously ambiguous and irrelevant card.  And with that, I bid my good readers adieu.

A final note: Please refrain from leaving unused thespian points laying around.  They are potentially valuable and may be redeemable somewhere at some point for some purpose.

The Art of Confidence

In this world, we face many challenges.  Every day is a new obstacle course for us to overcome.  From molehills to mountains, we come up against quite a variety in just our everyday lives.  In this ongoing struggle, there is one thing that can help us push ahead of the crowd, take control of our lives, and overcome these challenges.

Confidence.

Confidence lies at the heart of most of the issues in our everyday lives.  Imagine going through your life with no confidence whatsoever. (Perhaps you find this scenario a little too close to home.  Don't worry; that's what this post is all about!)  Everything you do becomes hundreds of times more difficult.  In fact, having little or no confidence makes it difficult to even try.  This is the first secret to confidence.

Don't be afraid to try new things, old things, anythings and everythings!  ...one fish, two fish? (Dr. Seuss just rolled over in his grave right there.)

Let me tell you a little something.  If you don't ever try anything, you have zero possibility of succeeding at anything.  Simple logic.  "Fine," you say, "But if I don't try, I also won't ever fail."  However, consider this: what is failure?  Allow me, for a moment, to pull a rather cliché card and quote you a dictionary.com definition:

"1. An act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success."
 

In the very first definition, we are given three simple words "-lack of success".  Remember what we said about trying?  According to this most basic and simplistic definition, if you don't try, you are always doomed to failure.  But this is just a dictionary definition.  What really matters is what you think.  This idea is the basis of confidence.  

Imagine, for a moment, that you could attempt anything right now with no chance of failure.  Anything at all, and you are 100% guaranteed success.  What would you do?

It is clear that to many, confidence is a hard grasped concept.  According to the Wall Street Journal (and I'm sure, by now, a number of other sources), the number one fear in America is public speaking.  Death rates second on the list.  Well, you don't have to speak in public if you're dead.  Or maybe you do.  I really wouldn't know, never having died myself.  If you do, a rather large group of people are going to be pretty disappointed.

Naturally, public speaking is not the only test of confidence we face in our lives; it just happens to be one of the most obvious.  It's one people think of quite often, and confidence is quite key to it.  In reality, it might be more accurate to say that the number one fear in America is lack of confidence.  I think that would nicely cover quite a few categories of fears.

In order to be confident, you have to... be confident.  Allow me to elaborate.  Confidence is something that often seems to be something you either have or don't.  It is often viewed as an inborn ability, not something  you can do anything about later on in the game.  This isn't true.  Confidence is just like any other skill; it can be learned.  No, it's not easy.  But that doesn't mean that it's not possible.  Thus, back to my original statement: in order to be confident, you have to be confident.  Choose to be confident.  Practice being confident by forcing yourself to try new things.  Don't be hard on yourself when you don't immediately achieve the results you want, and be sure to give yourself credit for trying in the first place!  That is a huge step to take, and will already set you apart from many others.

One of my favorite personal analogies for confidence is board breaking in Tae Kwon Do.  I've been breaking boards for a number of years now, but every time I do it, it's still a head game.  It illustrates the art of confidence quite well for me.  Board breaking involves power and a lot of technique.  However, when it really comes down to it, it's about mind over matter.  I know, when I face the board before me, that it will only break if I know it will break.  If there is doubt in my mind, the board will laugh and mock and stay as solid as the tree it came from.

But when I have the confidence I need; when I picture the board splintering and cracking in two... when there is not a single doubt in my mind as I line up to break it that it is history- that is a feeling like no other.  Nothing can stop me from powering through those boards.  You could put a tree in front of me and I'd be determined to crack it down.

Find what gives you that focus.  That is a perfect starting point for confidence building, however small you may think it is.  Everyone has to start somewhere; and you won't get anywhere without practice.  Yes, you even have to practice confidence.  And here you thought I was going to let you off easy.

So get practicing!  There's no time like the present.  (It's a gift and all that- I'm just full of clichés today, eh?)

How to Achieve Your Goals

In this world, we all have to start out somewhere small.  Well, most of us do; and I'm certainly no exception.  But there's something about that- starting out small- that makes it all that much more worth it.  When you finally achieve something, anything, you know how hard you worked to get there.  It's one of the greatest feelings in the world.

Goals are great things.  Fantastic things.  There's nothing quite so overdone and underrated as goal writing.  I figure it's a great way to start, and so here come a few of mine:

-Become a writer
-Make it in the acting world

Now, goals are fantastic; but to make them really effective, they've got to be specific.  Let's take a look at the top goal.  First, let's make really lofty-yet specific- goals from it.

-Write for Doctor Who
-Pen an international bestselling novel

These are wonderful!  And it's important to dream and hope; that is what makes us human.  Furthermore, it's what drives us to accomplish things.  That feeling that maybe, just maybe, we might be the one a million who has just the right combination of skill, drive, and luck to achieve what we want.  It takes all of those things, and a good deal of hard work, to get anywhere near achieving the truly great things in life.

Let's take these goals and form one a bit closer to home.

-Write and publish an original novel

Continuing on, make a list of steps to the goal.

1. Create, plan, and draft novel.
2. Research agents, editors, and publishing agencies.
3. Edit and refine novel, and create a pitch for the storyline.
4. Begin contacting agents.

This is a very simplified version of goal steps, but they don't need to be ridiculously complex.  There is a lot involved in publishing a book; what agents are looking for, how to look for the right agents, what to send them, etc.  And that's just the tip of the iceberg.  But the point is, you have a starting point, and that's important.  Your goal is starting to look more realistic, to you and everyone around you.  And the more realistic your goal is to you, the more you believe you can achieve it.  And the more you believe you can achieve it, the more achievable it becomes.


 Next, let's look at the second goal.  As before, let's make some crazy, head in the clouds, but still specific, goals out of it.

-Become a part of the Royal Shakespeare Company
-Perform on Broadway

Once again, great goals, there's no doubt about that.  There's no need to staunch one's creative flow by hiding these aspirations and or telling oneself that it isn't possible.  Because that isn't true.  You give yourself power.  And you are the only one who can ever truly take your power away.  So hang onto your ideas and dreams; they're important.

How about taking these goals and creating one that's a little nearer.

-Perform at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre

Now, this goal is a little bit closer to home, but it still requires a lot of hard work, and is by no means
simple to achieve.  However, it is more realistic to me than the others are, and may be used as a step toward the loftier goals.

As I did before, a simple list of possible steps toward this goal is in order.

1. Get roles and experience on and offstage in local and community theatre in my hometown.
2. Get my theatre degree and gain further on and offstage experience through the University's theatre program.
3. Audition for roles and work in the surrounding city in community and professional theatre.
4. Work toward building a strong theatre résumé through gaining a combination of onstage and technical theatre experience through multiple and varied theatrical venues, professional if possible.
5. Audition at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre.

Again, a quick list, but effective.  It's helped me sort my thoughts, and looking at it written out makes it appear organized as well as achievable.  If I sit around and think about how huge and scary and impossible the theatre world is, and continue to reinforce the impossibility of it all; I probably won't ever make it.  But I look at that list and see that it is possible.  It's a long shot in any case, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. It's all about tenacity.  Tenacity and attitude.

And so I'd like to add a few final steps that should be on any goal list.

-Don't ever, ever give up.
-Know that you have the ability to achieve what you want. 

I don't just say "believe"; I say "know".  Your goals shouldn't be things you just "believe" or "think" could be possible, they should be things that you know are possible.  Things that you will not allow there to be a single question or ounce of doubt about.  That is how you make things happen.  That is how you achieve your goals.

From one dreamer  -how about, "achiever"; that's better- to another, go after those goals.  It might be scary, but frankly, it's just not worth the not knowing.  What if?

Don't let that be the question you ask yourself at the end of the day.  Try another one.

Why not?