Going 100%

I’ve been doing side jobs.  I felt I needed “real work” to sustain while being an actress/mom.  The problem:  is that it’s exhausting.

I just started reading OVERCOMING UNDER EARNING by By Barbara Stanny and it’s really challenged the way I’ve thought about myself as an actress and my relationship with money.

Stanny believes that as artists, we are put on this earth with our God-given talents for a reason. If we go with “conundrum thinking”: pushing forward while clinging for safety, it prevents us from really going for what we’re passionate about.  Then we never really “go 100%” with our passions and fulfill a prophecy of not making enough money with our art.

When I read that, my need to have a second job fell out of my body.  I physically felt a the fear released and a renewed sense of focus and courage.

I have an outside day job project I need to taper down…but moving forward I’m focusing on PASSION, 100%, without doubts.  This is a *new* thing.

Let’s see how it goes.

Finances for Artsy Fartsy Me

I’ve started tracking everything I’ve been spending on the show and wanted to get a nice ledger to record things.  Doing it in excel makes it less easy to access.  I’ve had rinky dink notebooks that I’ve misplaced or lost.  Before our rehearsal today I went to Staples and picked up a ledger.

This ledger is from B.F. Keith’s Theatre in Indianapolis.

This show consisted of Bob Hope, and it was a two man dancing team doing sometimes SIX performances per day.  Jigga WHAT?  Wow.  I love this site because it dispells the myth that actors (or artists for that matter) are genuises who are suddenly and randomnly inspired.  He worked his tail off and from these ledgers it shows he was more than a performer, but was business savvy.

Perhaps one day someone will put my ledger into a museum.  I can hear the tour now:  “This is an exhibition of Hottie Actress Momma, her wardrobe, videos of her performances, her writings and… her ledger.  Look!  If we browse in this ledger, we see back in 2009, renting a rehearsal space in New York City was only $15 per hour!!”