I recently attended a Celebration of Life for a woman that I knew through my work. She was vibrant, beautiful, and exciting. Even in her final days, some of her last words to her pastor regarding her transition to the afterlife were, “Are you ready to party?”
I know it’s cheesy that I, being a performer, manage to turn every life affirming experience into a theatre metaphor. But I’m sooooo far from being done drawing the parallels between life and the theatre.
This is what Diane taught me.
Leave it all on the stage.
Every morning that we open our eyes we begin. We step out of the wings onto our stage the moment our feet hit the floor, not the moment when we have witnesses to our lives. We don’t need an audience to validate our amazing performances. Every waking moment is an opportunity to give the performance of a lifetime. I’m not talking show tunes and jazz hands. All. Day. Long. That wouldn’t be authentic. I’m talking about living your life with honest intentions, fearless energy, and commitment to the person you are.
So on with the cheesy theatre metaphor!
How can you be a Star in your own life and have the courage to give the performance of a lifetime?
- Fill the Space On stage or off we have a space to fill. So fill it. Just because you are comfortable being yourself in safe, smallish ways doesn’t preclude you are incapable of being that self in front of more people and in bigger spaces. If the world asks you to be You to the greatest, global audience – rise up! Challenge yourself. Do not shrink because you think you couldn’t be that person. You already are.
- Be the change you want to see in yourself. Lets put a spin on that saying that we all love and turn it inwards. Want to be happier? Be happy. Want to smile more? Smile. Ever heard of fake it till you make it? There’s some truth in it. Studies show that by smiling alone you will feel happier. Biology feeds back into our psychology. Let’s act like the successful self we desire to be.
- Commit to Character not the Caricature. This is something we will talk about more but let’s just say that any ideals for yourself are probably inspired by some ideal character. Character is authentic and comes from within. Caricature is a two dimensional, inflexible stereotype that we may idealize but isn’t human. Allow for the humanity. Welcome the mistakes. Embrace the truth of your ideals. Be real. Then commit to that character.
- Energy!!!! Bring your full power, your full performance everyday. Don’t play small so that you don’t come across as too much. Bring all your loving, positive, big energy. By doing that, you will give others permission to do the same.
- Take Risks. You. Will. Fail. You will be embarassed. You will make mistakes. And if you keep it up, you will change the world. It is worth it. Take the risks. The greatest artists know the secret: that risk creates something worth risking it all for. Be brave.
(I’m sending a big hug to all of you who are freaking out right now just thinking about it)
This is it! This is your time! I know you’ve heard that before and, like all clichés, I know you’ve stopped hearing it. But hear it now.
This is your time.
Want to have that life of no regrets? Remember to commit. Make it fun! You can’t know how important it is to the world until you do. Tennyson said it perfectly…
So. Are you ready to party?
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