Aaaand it's already almost X-Mas. If there's one thing that I'm increasingly learning new ways to deal with it's how to balance things going on from day to day. It's not work/life that's the problem right now it's work-life/voiceover-creativity. The holidays are nuts for pretty much everyone, but it is a new experience trying to keep up with my practice, sending out auditions, and doing my "homework" on acting, marketing, industry news. But I'm not at the point yet where I can simply put my day job aside, so a little bit of feeling like I'm standing on a huge Jenga tower comes with the territory I guess.
I am immensely looking forward to the time I get to take off from my survival job around X-Mas and New Year's. I'll still be working a bit, but it's voiceover work that I'm excited to be a part of. I'll be heading to San Diego to visit my parents as well as to see friends both new and old in Los Angeles while I'm down there. But in the couple of weeks I still have until we leave, I am determined not to fall into a rut. Classes are kind of on hold around the holidays as most acting teachers don't want to start one when everyone is out of town. So I'm left to be a diligent self-learner for the time being.
I'm also continuing my construction of a decent home recording space. For the moment it looks a little bit like an empty box, but it's coming together. I'm finding that the problem with home audio booths isn't the echo off of the drywall or the ventilation but actually preventing sound from getting in -- and when you have a new neighbor that likes blasting music with heavy bass it's a BIG problem. Unfortunately I don't have $5000 to drop on a prefabricated isolation booth, so heavy blankets on every surface seems to be the way this is going to go. Especially the floor. Because killing my downstairs neighbor is generally frowned upon, unfortunately.
One thing I'm thankful for is my continued subscription to Steve Blum's webinar classes. I can't usually participate live, but they're all recorded so I can generally start one whenever works best for me. They're a great way to remotivate myself if I'm feeling like I'm dropping into that sort of educational or creative rut, and he always provides interesting homework assignments to give each class a practical side. Anything that gets me back in front of a microphone when I start to want to procrastinate is fantastic.
Above all, I want to feel like I'm making progress and moving forward. Plateaus are an awful feeling when you see the next level above you and just can't quite make it. So every new thing I can learn, every little trick I figure out for my own voice or realization about a certain theoretical lesson put into practice puts me one more step up on this staircase to where I want to be.
For those of you following along, I realize that sometimes it seems like I'm stating the obvious or restating something I've said before, but remember that this is as much if not more for me than it is for you. Writing this out helps me put my thoughts into practice, and my brain is a pudding thrown against a wall sometimes. So the rambling will happen. I thank you for bearing with me, and checking in with me from time to time on this journey of mine. Every one of you that cares enough to see what I'm up to is incredibly appreciated.
Cheers, and Happy Holidays!
