Hobbies

I was at a party this weekend for “Cinco de Mayo” and we were having a really pleasant time. There were a lot of actors at the party and I love getting to know actors and where they are from and who they train with and learn about what classes they are taking. All of this is interesting to me, because I like to know who to recommend to other actors for coaches and head-shots and all things actor related. I used to feel really weird telling people what I do, especially in L.A. as I perceived that this would make the conversation all about what I do and while talking about myself is great (hence the blog), I am genuinely interested in other things besides casting and acting. Now when I am in a social situation, I let my “freak-flag” fly and hope once all of the actor/casting director getting-to-know you questions and formalities are talked out, I can get to know more about a person besides who their agent is and they can get to know me beyond what I do for a living.

L.A. is a city that is entertainment oriented. In this industry you can isolate yourself amongst those who work in the same industry as yourself. I pride myself on the fact that I have friends who have nothing to do with entertainment. I appreciate that having relationships with people outside of my world is very important to my own personal growth. But more than that, I realized that I needed an activity outside of my work that would fulfill me in ways that my job could not. I decided that I needed a hobby to take my mind out of the world of casting. I wanted to do this because I was feeling a lot of pressure to make a success of my business and the pressure was making me unhappy. When you are freelance and don’t know where your next paycheck is coming from, there is a lot of pressure to make work happen and this made me feel only focused on the business of getting business.

I took up flying. I always wanted to learn how to fly a plane and secretly, since childhood, wanted to be a pilot. Weeks and weeks of getting into a Cessna 172/A and learning to pilot the plane made me so happy. After ten months of going to the airport once a week, I was ready to fly on my own. It took me several minutes to be able to accept that my instructor was ready to sign me off, but once I drummed up the courage, I got into the airplane and took off! It was an amazing sensation. I was all alone up there and the shear concentration that it took for me not to freak out and realize the magnitude of what I was doing and accomplishing took a lot of inner strength and fortitude. Upon landing, I got out of the plane, hugged my instructor (secretly wanted to faint) and went home. I soloed three more times after the initial solo.

Unfortunately, I have not been back to the airport. When I set my mind to something, I know that I will accomplish what I set out to do. My goal with the flying lessons was to solo. After I accomplished that, my next goal was to pass the FAA exam and become a pilot. But then I thought about it  more and the real next goal would be to become an airline pilot and give up casting altogether and go to airplane school (yes there is such a thing) and become a commercial pilot (I tend to go to extremes when it comes to things like this). As I have not come to that point in my life, I put my pilot wings on hold for the moment and head to my office on Wilshire to keep on what I realized I love doing – casting.

The point of all of this is that sometimes you have to try something so outside of yourself and your daily routine that you appreciate the value of where you are in your own life. Flying made me realize that I needed to have another activity not related to casting, but in turn, I learned to appreciate the job that I have and the opportunities that I have created for myself…which I do! After all, I made this casting thing up, it just sort of - happened. I don’t want to look back on my life and only see the casting, I want to see the relationships and the experiences that life has to offer all of us. So, now I am looking for a new hobby, one that doesn’t involve potential structural failure at 10,000 feet….