Words of Inspiration

There are days (like this past week) when I feel overwhelmed & overprogrammed - running from work, to family obligations, to VO practice/auditions, to rehearsals, to errands... and back again. Not to mention dealing with the aftermath of a hit & run car accident (thank goodness for responsive police officers and insurance agents). There aren't enough hours in the day, and there is no clear indication of which end is up. Those are the days when I laugh (inside) when people ask me how I manage to balance everything I do. I don't.

I re-balance, constantly. In my quest to become a world class voiceover artist, I make choices and sacrifice. Some things fall off the calendar, some things get squeezed in. Inevitably, I lose sleep trying to cram 26 hours of life into a 24 hour day. It's very easy to drain the batteries on such a demanding schedule.

When I start to have these, "Calgon take me away" moments, I take a quiet moment to reflect in my journal or with a trusted loved one, look to books and quotations for inspiration, and remember to keep breathing. As author L.Frank Baum ("Wizard of Oz") put it, "Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again."

Now's the time to take a breather: to inhale deeply, take a step back and re-balance the priorities so the most important ones rise back to the top. To remember the life lessons I've gathered in years past and apply them to today's situations. And to "Insist upon yourself. Be original" (thanks, Ralph Waldo Emerson).

I've been collecting quotations from various sources for over 10 years... I find truth, solace & inspiration in the wisdom of others. And their words have helped me to frame my own, and to find my voice(s) in a world filled with distractions.

Life in the cubicle demands that every project, every meeting, every e-mail is A++ priority...but is it, really? So I'm at that crossroads: in order to have everything I've dreamed of, I need to make some choices. Some of them will be easy (like delegating a meeting or some e-mail), some of them will not (like wrapping up complicated projects or figuring out how to make a process move more efficiently), but at the end of the day, I know where I'm headed, and it has sound proofing & fancy microphones, not corner offices with fancy nameplates and endless teambuilding meetings. Because, according to baseball legend Yogi Berra, "when you come to a fork in the road, take it," and "creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties." (Erich Fromm, German-American psychologist).

So it's time to rebalance. And just to remind myself, I'll share my major priorities with you:
1) Relationships first (family, significant other, close friends) - they are my support network and lifeline
2) Voiceover & Performance (classes, practice, privates & improv) - making inroads towards my dream job
3) Optimizing work life (making the most of limited work hours, reducing the amount of work I take home/lose sleep over, creating a plan for financial stability) - making the most of my day job
4) Building alternative sources of income to help support priorities 1) and 2) - to help me be my best (independent) self

When insecurity gets the best of me, or when I'm mentally or emotionally exhausted by my quest, I just keep reminding myself that there is a goal, and an end game in sight. And look to these words of inspiration to remind me why I do what I do:

"To love what you do and feel that it matters - how could anything be more fun?" - Katherine Graham, late editor of the Washington Post

"My recipe for life is not being afraid of myself, afraid of what I think, or of my opinions." - Eartha Kitt, actress/singer

What inspires you? Where do you look when you're feeling overwhelmed or uncertain, or just need a push in the right direction?