Getting Away
March 18, 2014
Pretty self-explanatory title, no?? I actually just got back from a weekend out of the city (details are below). While I can't tell you the last time I took an actual vacation (5 years maybe? Oof.) I do think it's important that as creative types, we all find time to "get away." What do I mean by that? Well it would certainly be nice if every 3/4 months we could take trips to someplace tropical or snowy or exotic to recharge our batteries and such. But most of us actors, directors, writers, etc don't have the funds to do things like that. Hell, we barely have the funds to pay our rent, right? But that doesn't mean we shouldn't actively take breaks.
See...this business will grind you down. I'm sure you've heard that before but allow me to explain a bit further. Sure, at the top of the industry you're on set all the time, flying to exotic locations, getting to shoot guns and fight bad guys or make out with really attractive people for 12 hours a day. But for most of us the daily grind consists of suffering through our survival jobs, hitting 3/4 auditions (in a good week), maybe a callback if you're lucky, and then rejection rejection rejection and some more rejection. Then we get to wake up the next morning and do it all over again. We have to fight tooth and nail everyday just to carve out some time to be creative or to do things in service of the art we love so much. The constant negative energy we deal with on a daily basis (never being quite good enough to book the show/land the part despite the casting director or the director being very fond of you) is difficult and draining.
But don't get me wrong. I signed up for this life and if I wanted to do something else, i would. The best way to keep going is to find ways to combat the negative energy. Besides working out and hanging with friends and trying to write a little bit everyday, I do think it's important to find ways of "getting away." Some friends of mine go to the Hamptons (especially in Summer), other friends of mine have a house in the Berkshires, and other friends just go home to visit their parents/siblings etc. The point is that we all need a break sometimes. In fact, I would argue that some of my friends' creative work would improve if they took a weekend off and left the city and just did something fun to break up the monotony. It's so easy to get caught up in the day to day dysfunction of being an actor that sometimes it's hard to know when to take a break.
Happily I don't have that problem. My best friend in the entire world (who was my roommate freshman year of college) has been blessed with 2 beautiful daughters - one of whom turns 3 in May and the other is 14 months as of this posting. I'm godfather to both of them (not in the technical sense but in the call-Uncle-Seth-when-we-are-afraid-to-call-mom-and-dad sense) and I try to go see them about every 4-6 weeks. The truth is that as much as they enjoy seeing me (they're old enough to know who I am now), I enjoy my time with them more than they will ever know. These two perfect little monsters have secretly become my salvation from the daily grind and constant rejection. Don't get me wrong...when I visit them it's not like I'm sleeping in and relaxing. Oh no. I'm up at 730 (or 8 now that they "sleep in") and from then it's nonstop attention. They're both so adorable and have such different personalities that it's fascinating to watch. The older one is so smart and does 2 or 3 things every day that are both cool and yet downright freaky so that you're left wondering how the hell can she know that? The little one is just a ball of laughs and amusement. She's always exploring and entertaining herself in the strangest ways and with the strangest objects she can find.
I could go on for hours about my munchkins (and if you know me, I probably already have) but the point is that it's a great place for me to go where I can't focus on anything but those two little girls. My ego and my drama means NOTHING to them and if I don't give them my full attention, they certainly let me know about it! All my drama will still be there in 3 days. It's not going anywhere. But by taking time to go visit the peanuts I'm able to just put that aside for a few days and not think about it or dwell on it. Which in turn allows me to come back to it refreshed and recharged and ready to attack it anew.
Now I'm not saying that spending time with small children will work for everyone. It certainly won't. But what I AM saying and encouraging all my fellow creative types to do is find a similar activity. Whatever it is, it should be something that is fun and enjoyable and keeps you from dwelling on the day to day grind of this business. And you should definitely do it for an entire weekend. Even if that means a "staycation" where you just see movies and do touristy type stuff, we all need to take breaks and "get away" from time to time. I suspect it will even improve your creative work as well.
-SDR