We need to be mindful when practicing, and we need to be mindful of HOW we are practicing.
When we are in the throes of a performing arts program, we feel much competition and comparison from within and from without. For some this can fire up the productive engine. For others this can lead to a dampening of creative spirit and a truncation of expressive joy… It is often not easy to trust ourselves enough to take the personal risks that are necessary.
Learning how to take these risks begin, not in public performances, but in the manner in which we are practicing.
How are we practicing? Why are we practicing? What is fueling our practicing?
Are we practicing out of fear or out of love? Are we practicing to be better than the next person, or out of the opportunity to joyfully experience our unlimited possibilites?
Try to practice not just the notes, but the how and why. Take musical and character risks in practicing (as opposed to blindly hammering away at yourself until you get that passage right) so that you constantly challenge yourself to trust in your own process, and in who you are right now.
As soon as you trust yourself enough to simply “Do You” as opposed to “Do It Right” or “Do it Better Than The Next Guy” you will be heading towards a joyful sense of experimentation, imagination and flow.
You will be an alchemist.
You will be wielding magic.
This magic is what takes the audience on a journey. It’s what takes our breath away. And touching this magic is why you became a performing artist in the first place.
Just do you: that’s your superpower. No one else has this superpower.
Just you.
Now use it.
