We’ve officially reached the end of Actors Anonymous.
The steps in this program were designed to lead you on an individual journey to manage your acting addiction. I hope I’ve offered tools to help you live a life with more peace, resilience, and fire. Now, as a result of our own growth, we share what we’ve learned with the world around us. This is step 12.
More than just sharing the steps, share yourself. If you’re reading this, then you’re someone seeking your own growth. Action is infectious. The simple sharing of the highs and lows and lessons learned inspire and challenge others around you to do the same. To that end, whatever has resulted from your journey (books read, plays seen, art created) also needs to be shared. Conversation fans the flames of our passion, lighting up others.
Share your talents. My husband and I were recently invited to producer Jordan Roth’s new series, “Making Mondays.” It’s a Periscope event in which a group of random and unrelated artists get together for a few hours to create. The rule is there are no rules. You just need to collaborate. From the event a sketch artist made a rendering, a short play was written and performed, food was made and consumed, and music was composed. One small group of willing artists resulted in all of this creation.
Foster the arts. If we all realized the impact of individual action, we could collectively change the world. There are many ways to do your part, and politics is a big one. Did you know that the National Endowment for the Arts accounts for just .012 percent of federal discretionary spending? Did you know that number is under constant threat to be decreased or eliminated altogether? Whether it’s letters to your state representatives (see usgov.info), signing of petitions, volunteering, donating, or voting, you can do your part to protect and grow the arts in this country.
Lastly, go see and support local art! From concerts to exhibits to theater, you say just by showing up that art is vital and important to your community (see step four). Don’t let not having money be an argument either—then you’re no better than the federal government. We can all budget accordingly, considering there are many cheap (or free) opportunities available to support art.
My sincere hope is that these steps have inspired and challenged you, that they’ve been the permission slip to live the life you’ve imagined. You are an artist and have the wonderful opportunity to wake up every day and choose to live out that calling—for both yourself and your world. Go forth with all the grace and tenacity you can muster.
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