Baby steps...

"The first step towards getting somewhere is to decided that you are not going to stay where you are." ~ John Pierpont Morgan

Last night I listened in on the bonus class for the teleseminar I'm taking. Our topic covered how to make things happened. Not in a pull-a-magic-rabbit-out-of-a-hat sort of way, but more of a find-a-way-to-get-said-rabbit-into-the-hat kind of way. It was a very motivating night with a lot of very useful information.

Well, later this morning I stumbled across the above quote and I really like the way it sums up the importance of not necessarily knowing how to start, but coming to the decision to make your move, as it were, on life.

Today was my follow through day in response to the classes thus far and I feel great about how much I got done! I made a list of three things that I absolutely wanted to accomplish, and lo and behold, they got done! Of the things on my petite list, I'm most proud of signing up to read at my local library for their preschool time. Since the show I directed just closed, I wanted to keep the creative juices flowing, but also to practice my voicing, so I talked with one of the librarians and we've decided to have me read "The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins" by Dr. Seuss. We're going to make it Wacky Hat Day at the Library and then I'm going to read my story to the kids.

I'm living in a small town right now, and there aren't an awful lot of voicing opportunities at the moment, but reading aloud at the library feels great. Volunteer work is right up there with homework in my secretly-enjoyable-pastimes. While it makes me feel good to do things for other people, it makes me feel good about my goals to keep up with my voice acting at the same time. I'm killing two karma birds with one cosmic stone! And I'm pretty happy with it.

Finally out of the wilderness!

So I've been a ghost around this blog, but it's been for a good cause. The C4Act Community Theatre had me direct their spring production of "The Crucible." We had a wonderful turn out and I'm very proud of the work we did. The cast was excellent and the community support was super, especially Daniel and Teri of the Homer Center for the Arts. We couldn't have done it with out them.

And a special thank you to DJ Sonny King of Oldies 101.5 WXHC! Not only did Sonny record my radio ad, but he interview me and Jonathan Gay who played John Proctor in our show. Sonny was a joy to work with and I hope we work together again soon!

Now that I'm out of that forest, I'm hitting the ground running with my voice-overs. I'm currently taking Harlan Hogan's teleseminar "Starting Your Voice Over Business." Last night was the first night and already I'm learning a ton!

I've always heard that you need to approach your craft as a business and I know how important that is, but I never really understood what that meant. Last night we went over the basics of what that means and I was surprised to learn that as a voice actor your real job is getting the work. As a theatre artist so much of your time is spent rehearsing and building and adjusting and more rehearsing, it's easy to forget that you ever auditioned in the first place!

We dispelled some of the common myths about the voice over world and then homework was assigned! Secretly, I've always liked homework, it makes me feel like I've accomplished something!

I have another class tonight and I'm looking forward to it. Now that I've got my life back from "The Crucible" I'll be posting more frequently, so check back!