Can Visualization help with Stage Fright?

Ever since I can remember I sang.  I was in singing competitions.  I was in choir through elementary and high school.  I also was in the madrigals group.  I started a 4 girl harmony group.  We were asked to perform in my high school and host events.

In between high school and moving to LA, I had a debilitating experience.  I didn't win a contest I thought I was sure to win.  To you it may seem trivial but to me it was the end of the world.

I went from feeling at home on stage to having stage fright.  I stopped singing completely.  All of a sudden the thought of being on stage scared me to death. I went through this period in my life not knowing if I would ever get over it.  I stopped performing all together.

When I moved to LA, being around so much art and music, I got the performing bug again.  I didn't have a lot of money so I couldn't pay an expert to fix my stage fright.   I didn't know how I would be able to conquer this great fear.

What helped me was visualization. I must have read it somewhere, I can't remember now.

I would visualize myself walking through an imaginary door and magically it would sprinkle star dust on my head as I walked through that door. When I was on stage I would visualize feeling confident and at home.  I did this over and over. I would do it before I went to bed so I would keep this image in my subconscious.  I would fall asleep to this image.  As I'm describing it to you, I see it in my head and it creates a happy feeling in me still today.

Visualization is a great way to get you through fears, especially stage fright. Do it when you have no distractions.  Extracting myself from the state of fear to visualizing an image of power and success has been a great tool for me.  Your visualization doesn't have to be like mine.  You can imagine an experience specifically to your needs.

Now, there is another important tool that goes along with visualization.  You have to push yourself to be on stage. Look for opportunities that will put you where you want to be.  This is the only way to see that it works.

I still visualize today to reach bigger goals, bigger awards.

If you have any questions I invite you to send me a message.

Happy Visualizing.

JC

Working on My Vacation

If you have been following my adventures you know I was planning to take a vacation.
There was some question about when I would be able to do it.  It so happens my sister asked me to
come visit her the last week of September.  I did. This was perfect timing.

 I wasn't booking.  I needed to think about my new strategy.  I needed a little bit of a break.

I was raised in Virginia so I went home for vacation.  I spent time with family.  The entire week
I was there, it rained.  Except for the last two days of my stay.  I really wanted to take a look
at the Washington Monument, but the rain kept me in to remote areas.  I spent some quality time
with my niece, got into some arts and crafts stuff.

In acting before you go on vacation.  You must tell your Agent your "Book Out Dates", meaning the

dates you will be out of town.  When you tell him this he won't submit you for jobs during the time you are gone.  It's important to communicate with your agent so he doesn't book you on something big and you are not around. When submitting to casting sites pay attention to the audition date and shoot date. This way you are not submitting on dates you are not available.   I eased up a bit on the casting sites; Frontier, Actors Access, LA Casting.

Before I left I attended a reading group.  A reading group is when  actors get together and read a play, in oder to practice and stay current with playwrights.  It was really fun.  I hope to work with these folks again.

What I'm trying to tell you is.  That being is an artist takes effort.  As an Artist that is your business.  Owning your own business takes a lot of effort even when you are on vacation.  On my vacation  I couldn't stop all together.  I took this time to reach out to some influential people in the industry and ask them to remember me.  I want to work.  I want to be the greatest ever.
Good Luck on your journey.

A big prayer to all those folks at the Bahamas after hurricane Juanquin.  Prayers and well wishes go out to you.

Horror Films are One of my Favorite Things

We are talking about FAVORITES today.

I don't know where my love for horror films comes from.  Ever since I can remember I read the genre and watched it.  You might already know I've already written one myself.  It's more of a Zombie/ Love /High School story.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS to do is watch horror movies at home any night of the week.  I find them very entertaining.  As we speak I'm watching the cult film, Gremlins.  It has everything one needs for a "kick ass scary movie".  The hero is this handsome brown haired, fair skinned male.  He is of course relatable.  You want him to win.  There is love interest.  A brunette, fair skin, angelic type female.

The script is amazing.  I mean of course it is a scary movie, so half the movie is action, blood, gore, monsters.  In this case the monsters are called, Gremlins.  They are cute and cuddly.  Until you -: feed them after midnight; shine bright lights on them that can kill them; whatever you do don't get them wet.  SPOILER: If you do, they multiply and turn into Creepy Party Gremlins.  They'll party at a local bar, kill the occasional neighbor and destroy the neighborhood.

Anyway,  I've told you about my favorite thing to do. Now it's your turn to share.
What is your favorite thing to do?  Or what is your favorite movie genre?

Now ... go watch a scary movie.

no throw-up please!

I enjoy a good gory movie.  One of my favorites is the EVIL DEAD series.  I was a huge fan of Stephen King.  I even wrote a campy horror movie myself.

Throw-Up in Movies, this I can' stand.

 I don't understand why I need to see someone throw up on film.  I mean please - can't the director ask the DP to cut or pan right or left or,  perhaps cut to a long-shot of the back of the neck without showing the actual throw up.  It makes me sick.  I have to look away, I really do look away.  It makes  me want to go to the bathroom to upchuck, talk on the big white phone.

So please director or wannabe director, or producer, don't show me throw- up shots.  Make it creative. Cut up some arms and legs, or heads. Slice some body parts, but whatever you do, no throw-up please.

I'm like one of those Disney Princesses

If I had to describe myself to you, I would say I'm like one of those Disney Princesses.
Confortable in my own skin, alive in my own world, friendly with animals.  I love to meet people. I believe in people. And I'm a little bit naive.


I take people for who they say they are.  I believe what they say.  I don't have any reason to believe someone would want to lie to me.  Or do me harm.  Or not pay me equally like others.  I'm very open and accepting of people.  That is how I see Disney Princesses, that is how I see myself.

It's difficult being that Disney Princess sometimes, because I find no one else lives in this world but me.   I am who I say I am.  You can see happy in my face and you can see sadness in my face.

I sometimes come off blunt and awkward because I'm direct.  Sometimes I lack common sense and sometimes I'm bit clumsy.  But I like this about me.  It makes me honest.   I think it's part of my charm.

So when I find someone is not who they say they are, I can't believe it.  I give them time to prove themselves wrong. And I block all the clues that tell me otherwise.  When I wake up from that deep slumber, it's very disappointing.  When I find someone doesn't mean what they say, it breaks my heart.  And I cry and try to make sense of it all.

I wish I weren't this naive princess.  Sometimes I wish I were tough and bitchy.  That way people will stop treating me like they can take advantage of me.

But then I realize that I can't fight who I am.  I love who I am.  I am real.  This realization makes me strong and encourages me to push through all that difficult fight and make a spot for me.  And for other Princesses like me.  

That Magic Moment

I often feel I live in a movie expecting a movie ending.

I am the hero of the story fighting my way through obstacles and waiting for that pinnacle or that big dramatic winning moment.  Perhaps it's a romantic comedy and that climax is finding the relationship I've always wanted.  Perhaps it's the job of a lifetime and at the end my prince is waiting for me with

a bouquet of roses after I've conquered the hardest almost impossible feat. And at the end of it all I see him.  I smile and run to his arms. I worried he had left me since I had a reputation of being a hard to get girl.  He is the only one that gets me.   He finds he can't live without me. We embrace and kiss while soft romantic music plays in the background. The camera spins around 360 style capturing that last moment.

It's not over yet. The rain starts to fall softly on our faces.  Our wet clothes makes us look sexier than we were originally and we run into my awesome apartment where with one last kiss we close the door, giving the illusion we closed the door to make passionate love.

When I come down to earth, I realize life is not like that.  There is no pinnacle, no happy ending, no living happily ever after.  Everyday it's a mix of all of these factors.  The hero wins, the hero gets lost, the hero conquers her own doubts, the hero wins, the hero loses.  The hero just lives.

There is no ONE magic moment to wait for.

Sorry to bust your bubble.

Sometimes You Just Have to Go Through It!

I’m sitting home today, playing hooky from work.  Sometimes it feels nice to do nothing than lay around on my couch.  My head spins and spins asking myself if I should call someone, to do something, just to ask if there is something to do. Maybe I should call my neighbor and go to the pool. But all the hours of thinking if I should, I don’t. 

I turn on the telly and I binge watch all the movies that seem somewhat interesting.  I entertain the thought perhaps I’ve become a recluse, instead of the social butterfly I was not too long ago.  (And that is why I left my previous day-job because everyone required me to be outgoing and I didn’t want to.  It was too much for me. )

I chose another path, I chose to go to school and leave all the stability behind.  Some of my friends are now making $6500 and up income a month.  I’m making a small percentage in comparison.  It does sometimes bother me and it makes me wonder. 

I spent yesterday sleeping all day long and binge watched. Thank you Netflix. One day soon we will work on a project together. 

Today I’m basically doing the same.   I did manage to go out and meet a friend for lunch.  I bought my favorite desert.  Afterwards I thought about calling another friend, but I didn’t.  I drove straight home.  I used the "heat" as an excuse.  "It’s too hot to be out there driving in this heat," I excused myself. 

What is really keeping me in? Am I afraid to put myself out there, to take a chance in friendships? Maybe I’m afraid of getting hurt.

Acting is about that, putting yourself out there, every single day.  Stepping over, around, jumping, rolling however you need to get to the other side.  Being afraid to fail and still continue regardless of that fear.  You see a light at the end of the tunnel, just barely barely dimmed.  But the Actor continues, tenacity is what it requires daily. Finally, not really but probably, Dicipline.  

And sometimes a little pampering and laying around the house is just what one needs.  Perhaps I don’t need to question what I’m going through or poop on it.  I just have to go though it. Forgive myself for needing to rest.  Enjoy it, replenish my energy so I can do it again.  ACT. , jump over my fears.  

Or didn't you know I was an actress!