10 Reasons Why Acting Makes You A Better Human

This morning I was trying to imagine what would be of most service to you to write about. And as I was sifting through emails from clients - some of them excitedly dashing off a note to tell me how great their acting life is going, and others who are struggling and reaching out for support - I thought to myself, MAN! . . .

Acting really is not a straight road. A career in acting is a lot like surfing waves where you have to learn to ride the ups and the downs of ever changing waters.

And when you're acting career is going great it's so so sweeeeet, right? But then, when you're down or not working and it's hard, sometimes you can begin to doubt yourself and your choices in life. And so I thought, hey!

What if I were to remind you what's so totally enviably awesome about being an actor?

So whether or not you are currently working or where you'd like to be, here are just a few reasons to keep going:

10 Reasons Why Acting Makes You A Better Human

Being an actor makes you . . . 1. Empathetic

Spending so much time trying to get inside and understand your character's feelings makes you a more empathetic person in general, able to feel and be more caring to those around you. 2. A Good Lie-Detector

You've spent so much time listening closely to your scene partner, and dissecting the every move of good acting and bad acting that you have a keen spidey sense of when someone's being honest or not. No one can slide anything past you! 3. Expressed

As an actor you get to feel and express more extreme emotions that most people. Anger, excitement, passion! You get to throw yourself into these experiences and as a result you often feel more "exorcised" of your own pain as your emotions have an outlet to flow throw you and away. 4. An Expert Problem-Solver

Imagining and building all of those intricate details about your character has really built your creative "muscles" and therefore you're able to find new solutions to problems in other areas of life because of your open and flexible mind. 5. A Jack of All Trades

Your character is a professional chef? You take a cooking class to get an authentic feeling to your movements. You're playing a painter in this film? You learn how to paint. Being an actor gives you a duty to learn new skills and your life can be exceptionally rich and adventurous because of it. 6. A Team Player

You almost never work alone as an actor. You're one part in a multitude of moving parts - directors, other players, set designers, production crew - and so you learn how to be a team player and collaborate with others. 7. A Change-Maker

Your work as a storyteller is so powerful that you can change people's minds with it. You take people on an emotional journey and can touch thousands or even millions of people with one film or production. 8. A Good Friend

Ok, so there are those instances that you have to cancel on a friend for an audition, but otherwise when you are with a friend, you're a great one! All of those hours spent listening deeply to your scene partners has made you a great listener and a very present friend. 9. A Sensitive Super-Hero

Anticipating precisely how long to pause before the punch line. . . feeling the audience's energy, listening to your "gut" when you improvise, all of these skills make you almost superhumanly sensitive to what's going on around you. As a result, you're better at sensing danger and also can use this ability to know what opportunities to lean into. 10. Fearless

Once you've been rejected a hundred times just to be able to finally land one or two acting jobs you know you've reached a new level of perseverance and strength. Get over your fear of failing once and it just gets easier every time. You see? You really are an exceptional human being! And you're getting better every day! In BIG LOVE and celebration of you! Holly