Hey Reader,

Fair warning: this one is gonna shimmy left and right.

A children’s song. The breakers versus the open ocean. A puppy learning to sit.

Would you stay with me?

The Song First.

I don’t remember who introduced this to me, but it breaks down so beautifully.

Row Row Row Your Boat

Gently Down The Stream

Merrily Merrily Merrily Merrily

Life is But A Dream

Let’s cut this up a bit:

Row Row Row

Three rows before anything else.

The very first instruction is take action, take action, take action. Before I know where I'm going. Before I feel ready. And it’s reminding me 3 times, cause it needs reinforcing.

Your Boat

Not the one next to me. Mine. (OOO did you feel that one like I did?)

Gently

Not with intensity, determination, stalwart painful effort. Gently, is kind, like a a touch, not a slap.

Down The Stream

Downstream, which means working with what's in front of me, not fighting the current to prove something.

Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily.

Four times. One more than the rows. More joy than effort.

Life Is But A Dream

What a conclusion. I love that line so much. It’s so easy to take things SO SERIOUSLY. Some things deserve that weight, of course. But I know a lot of what exhausts me (the comparison, the urgency, the sense that I’m already behind) softens a little when I give myself that moment to sit with that last line. Life is but a dream. What a release.

This children’s song always shows up juuuuust when I need it.

Now The Breakers.

Oh that powerful place between the shore and the open ocean. I say that with respect and more like a petulant child, pounding my forearms on the ground, kicking, too. GRRRRRR....

Waves are beautiful from a distance, but in it, they keep shoving back. It takes everything just to hold ground, and mostly feels like it’s pushing back more than moving forward.

Getting past the breakers is hard. It feels permanent. (and I'm exhausted). And sometimes the tide really is too strong right now, and the best move is to build strength and come back, or find a different stretch of water.

But past the breakers, the ocean rocks and lolls. And if you know what to do in deep water, you can dive, or swim, or float. No more churn.

I think about auditions I do that sometimes the stakes feel so high. Did the email go through or did it go to spam? Should I have sent that other take? Or was that the best one? Is the casting gonna be nepotistic? Am I among thousands of submissions? Did I make sure I met all the specs?

All these questions swim around in my head and I just want to make things the best I can. So I do my best.

Then I hit send. There’s a little celebration (“Ring My Bell” dance near the laptop, anyone?), even a deep breath counts, and then, I move on to the next thing.

And this works for sending uncomfortable emails, too.

Row, row, row your boat.

Now The Puppy.

Learning to sit doesn't happen in one try. It happens in attempts. And the most effective method is catching the puppy doing it right and responding to that.

I know in my heart that once I get past the breakers, I'm a good boy.

I've been shoved back more than I'd like. What I keep finding is that the shoves build something. (Ooo ooo — remember that house-of-cards-under-the-ceiling-fan skill building?)

I love that I build strength with every wave that tried to stop me.

Gently, and merrily yours (life is but a dream),

Roy

---

Hearing your replies to these emails delights me. I've enjoyed sharing some of the thoughts I usually keep only to myself about what I'm working on and why it matters to me. If you've found something useful here and you know someone searching for a space to really work the craft -- where Audio Description performance and genuine play come together -- feel free to send this their way.

The right people always seem to find their way here through a friend who gets it.

Playback Lounge