...and watched auditions don't get heard.
At least that's the conclusion I've come to.
Conventional wisdom in the voiceover and voice acting ethos is that it's bad practice and wasted energy to see if any auditions you've sent have been listened to, marked as shortlisted, etc. Checking doesn't change the outcome. If you get it, you get it. Once you've sent it off, it's now off your plate, off your shoulders, and the ball is in somebody else's court.
...except I still like to check to see if it's been listened to. I just can't help it! I get giddy! I need to see!
All that being said, I LOVE surprises in my life. I DO NOT like surprises being ruined.
Conversely, the house boss LOVES knowing any surprises in advance. While she loves nice surprises, I think she likes knowing what the surprises are supposed to be even more. There's no such thing as spoiling the ending of a good show, by her account. I, however, whole-heartedly acknowledge that I love riding the emotional roller coasters that may be in store with a good show and prefer to experience plot twists and jaw-dropping drama with NO inkling or premonition of what's supposed to happen in advance. It's supposed to be an experience!
So I acknowledge the hypocrisy on my part of loving surprises, yet having this insatiable urge to check on audition statuses to see if all of the greatness I've bestowed upon the to-be blessed ears of its recipients have been changed by the glory that is my angelic, "every-guy" voice.
As I've recently written, life has had a few road bumps lately. Sir Reginald "went to college", as we like to say, my car broke down (ironically just as I was pulling into the vet for the final appointment, ugh!), I've started working in a new department at the hospital, and I just finished my orientation period (halp)...and that's mostly it as far as challenges go.
A road bump among the masses more recently worth mentioning is #Ivermectin. What is Ivermectin? Oh, you know, it's just parasite medicine for #livestock. Why is it so interesting all of a sudden? Well I guess it turns out someone out there convinced large groups of people to take it for either the treatment or prevention of #COVID. As far as I know, it's not an anti-viral. I also am unfamiliar with it being used on humans in pill form. What strange, strange times we live in.
Good things have happened, too, during this time! Things like:
I visited my hometown of Pullman Washington to see my wonderful family who I haven't seen since before quarantine started. Oh how I love them. My father, my mother, my sister, her derpy dog (who runs incredibly fast), my brother-in-law, and my grandpa. Did you know Pullman is the self-proclaimed lentil capital of the world? Every year they hold a Lentil Festival. Hey I don't make the rules in this world, ok?
We hosted family friends from out of town.
I FINALLY got a commercial demo produced!! And...well, YES, it was by Scott Burns!! AND I HAD SO MUCH FUN WORKING WITH HIM. Stay the @$(*& away from his heart you greedy bastards! It's made out of pure gold and I can already sense your greed, trying to tempt you into a way to steal that precious gold. Stay back, I say!! IT'S HIS!
Almost immediately after getting some coaching from Scott, I booked some gigs. COACHING WORKS!
That last point brings us full circle to the title of this blog. I sent off those auditions a few weeks back, and obsessively watched over them to see if they were heard or not. Then a bunch of crazy stuff went down in life and I stopped paying attention.
Then the pot started to boil because I wasn't watching it. Meaning, the people who heard my auditions decided they liked them and then reached out to me to work together. And it came as a total, unexpected surprise - just the way I like my stories to unfold.
I can give the world's best advice, but to take it is an entirely different matter. I know for a fact I'm still going to watch those pots and wait for them to boil, as well as watch those auditions and wait like a giddy little kid for them to be heard. But I still acknowledge the lesson behind what I experienced.
Good luck out there folks!
What a truthful and insightful read! I know the hill to conquer is "Will they call?" "Did I win?" and such. When you learn to 'Fire and Forget' you can focus on other things in your career you can control. Then you'll realize... It's switching time!
Nicely written my dear friend! keep up the great work!
There is SO much wisdom in this phrase: "I can give the world's best advice, but to take it is an entirely different matter." Aren't we all that way? Nicely done, Sir Mike With The Mic. Great blog! And not to hijack your thread but this chemical dependency for validation runs rampant in ALL of our veins. I once wrote a blog on it at https://seattlevoiceactor.com/stars-listens-likes-oh-my/ - I think you'll like it. The goal is just to keep planting seeds and move the @#^($ on. :-) Go git 'em, and may your pot boil!