My Dream

[dramadiva]

:hugon:bowl:hugoff

This may be really stupid, but this is really bothering me. Ever since I was a little girl, my dream has been to be an actress. I know it sounds terribly childish and a lost hope, but it is the only thing I can dream of being. Yet my friends and family tell me that it's only that-a dream, and it will never amount to anymore than that. I feel so lost. Please tell me if this is pathetic and I should find something else to do, or if I should follow my heart, and please be honest. I have been in several productions, and people tell me I am talented. My family and friends say "You have to be beautiful and have the perfect body to do that, and not many people are blessed like that. So, don't feel bad." But it makes me feel horrible! I can't even look in a mirror anymore without crying. I know I should do what I want, but when the people who love you most discourage you, it hurts terribly. I hope to hear from you soon!

I :love all the :fishy ies!!!

[CerealKiller]

:hugon Drama Diva :hugoff

No, it's not unrealistic!!!

Don't worry about the looks. Get into as many plays as you can and read the theater magazines and get to auditons!! THAT'S what is going to do it for you.

Because reallly there's only two options...

A) assume that it will never happen so you never try and it never happens.

Or:

B) know this is what you want and go for it and at least you have a good chance of it happening... which is a lot better odds than the first choice! :happy

If you want it bad enough, try for it as long as there's breath in your body because dreams are what make this life worth living! You can do it! :supergrin

[sillygirl]

hey sweet :fishy!!! i recommend following your heart and your dreams!! this makes me think of the quote: it is better to have tried and to have failed, then to have never tried at all. actually i think that is supposed to be loved and lost, and all that, but in my opinion it applies to trying. you will never know if you could have made it and achieved your dream unless you give it a shot. go for it all the way, girl!!!

[silly]

hey go for it!! if that's your dream then just do it. you only live once and you don't want to regret anything do you?? i don't want you to look back on this and think "if only" right. i'm gonna go with my dream and i don't care how childish it is, it's my dream and no one can take that away from me.

:canada
silly

[Pella]

:hugonDramadiva:hugoff
It is NOT pathetic to have a dream in life!
By all means....pursue it! You've even had positive feedback about your talent!
When I was really young I always had a dream of owning my own shop. A place where I could display and sell all my hand-made creations. I love to sew and design clothes and stuff. I mean I used to really "dream" about this! When I turned thirty....I got my hands on some money and was able to lease a place down by the beach. I was in seventh heaven! Unfortunately, my sense of buisness knowledge wasn't too keen and I ended up losing the buisness a year later. But the moral of the story is that unless I would've started realizing that dream in physical tangible ways......I would've never experienced that! And even though I'm doing other things now.....I feel a certain fulfillment that I recognized that dream and attempted it. So I highly encourage you to take some of the steps cerealkiller suggested and get moving towards your goal of becoming an actress. Because you're going to be one of the BEST! :grin
Love beth :sun

[zannahdu]

:hugon Dramadiva :hugoff

Oh, sweetie...I very much relate to this. I spent all my growing up years with an intention and yearning to act. Acting has always been my place of passion and fire.

Yes, becoming a professional actor is a looooong shot. HOWEVER, there are so many ways to keep theater in your life, you have no reason to just give up your dream. You are so young, my dear--you have NO IDEA of how many places your life will take you (I was a one hundred% different person when I was fourteen)...

I majored in drama in college, and it really opened up my eyes to the fact that there are so many ways to perform/do theater without being part of the "thin/beautiful/competitive" thing. There is so much good performance art and alternative theater, where it is so much more about the ART of it than the LOOK of it.

The question to ask yourself is "WHY do I want to do this? WHAT do I hope to get out of acting?" I had to admit that part of me wanted to be fabulous and famous and gorgeous, smiling on the cover of InStyle Magazine. THAT part of me just feuled my ED, and so I made a decision earlier this year to remove myself from the theater atmosphere to help my recovery come first. It was a really sad and painful decision, BUT...

Now that I feel strong in my recovery, I am finding new, more enriching ways to turn back to what I love. I am doing a lot of writing of solo performance work, and looking around at performance venues where I can do my own plays that are about what I want to say and how much I love performing/sharing my visions with an audience. AND in about three weeks, I am starting graduate school in a special program to get a degree in Expressive Arts Therapy, where I will learn to use drama, dance, art, and music as means to help bring healing and health. Creativity should be about LIFE, not about restricting ourselves and killing our bodies.

Do NOT give up your dream, look for ways to let it grow and change, and HAVE FAITH, my dear...only time will tell what amazing things lie in your future as you grow strong in recovery and into womanhood!

Love & luck, Suzannah

P.S. Check out plays by Anna Deveare Smith and the play The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler for good examples of plays that are empowering and good for women and people of all races...

[comet]

:hugon Dramadiva :hugoff

GO FOR YOUR DREAM! Definitely. Go for what you want with all of your heart rather than living a life of regret.

Here is a great quote . . . Shoot for the moon. If you miss you will fall amongst the stars. :stars :stars :stars

& if you don't miss you will be on the moon. It is rubbish that you need to, for example, have a perfect body to go into acting. Maybe Hollywood, but not theatre.

I saw Eve Ensler's "vagina monologues" last night. It was so cool. All about self esteem and not having to be perfect & the actresses weren't "perfect" but they were real women and they were beautiful.

Don't give up on your dreams. That would be so sad. Other people might stamp on them but don't you do that.

Go for it, girl.

:love Comet :stars

[Lissa]

:hugon dramadiva :hugoff

DEFINATELY go for it :yay !!!!!

If it's the only thing you dream of being, then follow your dream and go for it :supergrin ... especially as you are talented!

As for having to have a perfect body, that's not true. There are a lot of actresses out there who are picked for their roles because they are talented and look themselves (i.e not a skinny, tall model-type) so don't let comments like that discourage you.

Good :clover ...follow your :love and you'll be sure to be :happy !

:love Lissa