I'M AN ACTOR.

I reject the term "struggling actor."

I know what I am and I accept it. I may, of course, be in a state of always improving at my craft, which we should all be doing with everything that we undertake. But, that is no excuse to not walk forward into my calling with confidence.

And this doesn't mean that I don't have other creative efforts and interests apart from acting. I've owned a creative / design business. I've done and still do personally train fitness clients (which also requires a great deal of creativity). My mind is constantly churning out creative ideas. If God is creative and if we are indeed created in His image then we ALL have a measure of that creativity hard-wired into our DNA. We just have to be honest with ourselves and who we are to be able to really tap into it.

I need YOU to become who YOU were created to be. I need what YOU HAVE TO OFFER just as much as YOU NEED WHAT I HAVE TO OFFER. This isn't meant that we take advantage of each other, it means that we naturally are gifted with different strengths and abilities.

If I withhold from you my natural gifts then I am not being honest with YOU and I'm not being honest with MYSELF. Which is the greatest tragedy of living a life of falsehoods and facades. Which, ultimately, is not really "living."

If I put something on my resume that is not what I actually did from a work experience or from a role that I've played before on stage or on screen, THEN IT DOES NO ONE ANY GOOD.

I would be hired under false pretenses thus most likely getting fired. Which is a waste of time and money on everyone's part. I might be cast in something for which I'm not really fit and then waste everyone's time and budget in a production.

Here's the exception to those two items: everything I've ever done, I'VE NEVER DONE BEFORE. When I started my design business I had never had one before. When I began personal training, although I had trained personally for many years, I had never trained clients professionally before. When I joined the TobaccoFreeFlorida.com street team, I had never been on a street team before. When I began acting, I was terrified about forgetting lines, but the delayed delivery in some of my lines (because I was trying to remember them) actually added immensely to the character and comedic timing I didn't realize I have. And it worked.

If I am honest with my resume content and an employer or director can see what I have done, but that the measure of creativity I bring to the table can make up for a shortcoming here and there, then at least we're all aware up front and it gives me the chance to grow into something and it gives them a chance to benefit from the creativity and experience that I bring.

"This is what he did what what little to no experience he had before he undertook that task??? Well then. We definitely need that kind of drive and work-ethic on our team."

"This is what he shot and produced with no budget??? Well then. What could he do if we really DID have a budget??"

The reason my endeavours worked, was because I was honest with myself and the abilities I know I posess. By bringing a creativity and ingeneuity to the table, I was able to surmount obstacles as they presented themselves. If you try to forsee all obstacles that will arise with something you undertake, (1) you'll never be able to see them all and (2) because of this you'll never leave square one thus never knowing what could have been. You just have to move foward realizing that obstacles will arise, but that you'll figure something out and that you're never out of options. The dots will connect in your favor.

(See: Steve Jobs commencement speech at Stanford here: http://www.haveastrongday.com/journal/2009/6/7/stay-hungry-stay-foolish-steve-jobs-2005-stanford-commenceme.html)

In short, be yourself. People can see right through anything else.

Have a strong day.

Bravo out.