Saying Yes

This is actually Nicole's post, but blogger is giving her attitude this week, so I'm posting it for her : )

One of the things I learned doing the Artist's Way program, and that is also a key component of The Secret, is the importance of saying Yes. This was illustrated to me in the past couple of days.

Remember my story (below) about the film audition? Well, to flesh it out a bit, I was up for the role of the wife of a composer/pianist who has lost his hearing. The role was pretty small. At the audition, the director told me she'd be doing some rewrites before the shoot and that the role could get even smaller. Would I still be interested, she asked.

Yes, I said. After all, I was there to get on-camera experience, no matter how big the part. And a small role is better than no role.

The night before the shoot, the director emailed me in a panic. She couldn't find anyone to play the lead, the composer/pianist. All the men she'd auditioned either weren't right or flaked out on her. If she changed the role to a female, would I be willing to do it?

Again, I said Yes.

I got to set on Saturday morning and I now had the lead role. I got to play the cool, challenging part of a composer/pianist who has lost her hearing. It was fantastic! I had a great time and the director was really pleased with my work. It turned out for the best, she said.

My saying Yes opened more doors for me on this project than I expected!

More success - while on break at the shoot, I was writing in my journal about how grateful I was, and my phone rang. It was the stage manager of another show I'd auditioned for, offering me the job. Now, I wasn't offered the role I wanted, but I said Yes anyway. Work begets work.

So far my reports have been about my acting work, but I have had successes in writing, too. Mainly that I'm getting words on the page and working through trouble
scenes. It's a quieter success than the acting, but it's still a success.

The week lies ahead of me and all I see are possibilities. Stay tuned!