Medals & Trophies

Everyone wins a medal. 

Everyone gets something just for showing up. 

No. No. No. 

I'm sorry, but this isn't how it works. This isn't how the world operates and how The Universe deals the cards. Why do we keep perpetuating this way of thinking?

Thanks for showing up but you don't get anything until you earn it. 

Work hard. Do your best. Guess what. You still may not win. 

I think some of the problems we are dealing with in the world today is because most people don't want to work hard. They just want to show up, do the minimal amount expected and then hold their hands out afterwards waiting for their reward. 

No. If you don't do your best, you're going to get run over and crushed by those who are willing to push themselves. Survival of the fittest. It's not survival of the least motivated and lazy and untalented and unfit. Never has been but somewhere we slipped and this became the norm. 

We are setting ourselves up for catastrophe. 

We are telling the youth of today to just show up and smile and hold their hands out. Somebody will give them some kind of ribbon or trophy for doing something. 

I know this prevalent in sports. 

Does it happen in acting?

I'm sure it does but I would have to believe it happens less frequently. 

In fact, when it comes to performance and the evaluation of performance, the acting profession is brutally honest. There are no ribbons for just showing up to an audition. Nobody cares that you drove three hours to be there or that you spent money on gas and a pair of glasses you thought would look good because they were a style the character you were reading for would wear. 

Nobody cares that you just received the sides and had little time to memorize and practice. 

Nobody wants excuses. They want perfection. Nothing else. Because guess what? The guy to your right and even possibly to your left are willing to go that extra mile closer to perfection. 

Nobody cares that you've been sick, that you're tired or that your dog just died. 

Nope. There are no ribbons. There are no trophies. 

Sometimes there aren't even any thank-you's. 

This isn't a business for people who are going to do the minimum and expect to be rewarded.  This isn't a business for crybabies and pouters. This is a business in which you have to wear your big boy and big girl pants all the time. 

It's tough and you have to be tough. 

You have to get used to rejection and the sooner that happens, the better off you will be. 

It's never nice to hear "You're not what we're looking for." It sucks. 

Some casting directors decide in the first two seconds, which means you've barely stepped into the room for your audition, that you're not right for the part. Rejection isn't supposed to be a good thing. 

You can use it though, after the initial sting, and learn from the experience. That kind of resilience though comes from experience and your level of professional and personal maturity. 

If you got trophies for just showing up, though, chances are there is going to be some pouting and possible foot stomping. 

You have to be able to weather the storm and there's no way you can do that if you've been securely tied to the dock and safe inside eating soup until the storm passes. 

There's going to be waves. There are going to be some that will knock you on your ass. 

Get up. Get up dammit!

Sometimes you're lucky and you have a great support system who will offer a hand. 

You have to be able to do it yourself. 

After all, nobody else is going to be sharing that mark with you when the director shouts, "ACTION!"

Just keeping it reel. 

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