It is so easy to be immersed into something to the extent that you are unconsciously filled with tension and stress. This semester has been a whirlwind; making it possible, at times, for tension to creep into the mind and body. However, I have been lucky enough to have certain classes that have had the exact opposite effect: acting class being one of them!.
It is so nice to be in an environment that is all about exploration, whether it be exploring how a gesture feels or exploring a crack in the floor. This, in turn, helps you to break things down to the smallest detail to help create that magic that we see in good actors--that moment when you are so aware that it forces you to be fully present and giving and taking with the environment around you. .
More and more, I believe that acting is a study of self. It seems as if you learn so much more about you in the process of "being someone else."" You have to break it down to that one simple truth: being you, a person. And in a society in which it almost seems politically correct to walk around unaware and unknowingly, it can be such a challenge to open up your eyes and your senses to the world around you. But this is the reward! .
I have felt comfortable in acting class from the start. The ability to "play- and not concentrate on it as being "work- (in the derogatory sense), automatically makes it work in the positive sense! It took a while for me to completely play, because it is so easy to be thinking off in the distance and not thinking of what you're doing to right here and right now. This is especially true when you feel the pressure to "accomplish- (as I think many of us have). But acting class gives us the opportunity to just concentrate on being aware and letting go "to practice and discover what everything feels like. And by keeping this awareness in mind and out of class as well, I believe that one can actually more fully cope with the "pressures- of life: turning them from pressures to simply situations.
