What is at the core of your craft?

I was sitting in church this evening, looking at the bright and gaudy Christmas decorations draped all over the church and it suddenly struck me - that’s not what Christmas is about. At least not to me. Even if you take away the religious aspect of Christmas, why do many people look forward to this particular season? Family, loved ones, showing them you care, connecting and re-connecting … for me, Christmas is about something a lot simpler, a lot more basic, a lot more human, a lot more real.

That got me thinking about my craft. What’s at the core of my craft? Why do I do it? For the fame? For the money? For the glitz and glamour?

Maybe coming into this industry at a later age has been the best thing I could have done. To me, fame is just a bigger platform to do good; money is a necessity but not the reason why I work on my craft; glitz and glamour are just the things that we dress our craft up in to make it appealing …

What’s at the core of my craft is the message that all human beings are the same and that connecting at this basic human level is the only way we have to ensure our survival. So all the work that I do every single day - working on my craft - is about getting in touch with my humanity more and more; it’s about learning all the technical facets of my craft and channeling it into being a better teller of the human story.

Unsurprisingly, decisions on where I want to spend my energy come a lot easier.

So … what’s at the core of your craft?

-

My name is Eu Jin. I embarked on a career as a professional actor after 20 years in the corporate world. I am a big supporter of personal growth and I dedicate time and energy in performing arts education, specifically in the arena of practical approaches to inner health because I believe that this lays the groundwork for a sustainable career as an artiste.

If you would like to engage in a conversation about a healthy inner life practice, please leave me a message on the "Contact" page of my website and a way to contact you. Thanks!

Is it crazy to be scared of getting exactly what you want?

Is it? To be scared of getting exactly what you want? On the surface, it sounds so self-indulgent, reeking of fake humility and I mean … c’mon … only people who don’t have “real” problems would ever ask such a question.

But let’s just take a few steps back and consider - if people really did get exactly what they wanted, why it is that they would be scared.

We live in a world obsessed with achievements, obsessed with being number one and obsessed with being famous and rich. Many people spend their entire lives trying to obtain one of more of these things, whether it’s trying to top your class, whether it’s trying to get that job, whether it’s getting more “likes” or followers. The reality is, most of us won’t get what we want because there can only be 1 person at the top, 1 person who gets that job … and unfortunately, society celebrates the victor and shames the loser. Losers. Plural. The person who ends up as runner-up feels as lousy as the person who came in last place. And we get beaten down, we get used to “losing” and maybe at some point, we realize that we’re never going to get what we want.

So when - either by luck, design, talent, hard work, tenacity or sheer stubbornness - we get exactly what we want, most of us don’t know what to do with it. We’re not used to getting what we want, and before we’ve had a chance to savour it, we start to worry about losing it. We start to worry that maybe someone made a mistake. We start to worry that maybe we’re actually not good enough.

So much of today’s world thrives on our insecurity. In the world of the performing artist, it can be amplified a million fold after the 100th unsuccessful audition. So much so that when you actually land that job on the 101st try, you don’t really know how to react.

So how do we get out of this vicious cycle? Well … in some ways, we can’t. We HAVE to live in the world. We have to play the game. We have to submit for auditions. We have to audition. The question I have is whether you’ve defined (for yourself) what it is that you want out of the experience. If landing that job is your own critieria for “getting what you want”, then it’s possibly going to be a long and painful journey. But if improving on that one thing that you have difficulty with (in my case, it could be hitting that ONE note properly), then if I hit that note properly, then I’ve gotten exactly what I want.

In the last year - everytime I’ve had the opportunity to audition - I’ve set tiny tiny goals (like hitting that ONE note I struggle with properly). I will say this … it has had a knock-on effect to the rest of the audition. And ultimately, that could be the one differentiating factor that actually lands you the job.

-

My name is Eu Jin. I embarked on a career as a professional actor after 20 years in the corporate world. I am a big supporter of personal growth and I dedicate time and energy in performing arts education, specifically in the arena of practical approaches to inner health because I believe that this lays the groundwork for a sustainable career as an artiste.

If you would like to engage in a conversation about a healthy inner life practice, please leave me a message on the "Contact" page of my website and a way to contact you. Thanks!

Life informs Art

Living life is as much a part of being a performing artist as is creating art - because life informs art. We create art from the stories we want to share, stories that move us, stories that are unresolved, stories that heal us … so taking time to be present to experiencing life in all its glorious ups and downs is important.

I have just spent a month travelling around Europe, going to places I’ve never gone before, met new people, made some friends and experiencing things I’ve never experienced before.

Artistically, I delved into the world of greek tragedy, discovering an entirely new well of courage and connectedness to my body as both an actor and a human being. I connected to deep spiritual roots and found a great new joy in dramatic work. I also got to see 7 other people be incredibly brave in their connection to their deeper selves. This work changed our lives, and it has the power to change the world.

The weeks that followed were spent in new countries around Europe, and as much as I enjoyed newness, I also found myself being hyper aware to the flowing nature of our daily emotional life, and how access to a higher stream of consciousness helped me experience this without judging, without processing and without trying to make it something else. In that calm, I found clarity in a story I have been working on for a long time. The more I sat into it, the more the clarity came. The more I tried to wield it, the less I could grasp it.

If only we could all realize that the power to connect the world lies within all of us understanding and loving ourselves for who we are.

Blessed Christmas to one and all. Have a wonderful holiday season and a beautiful start to 2019!

-

My name is Eu Jin. I embarked on a career as a professional actor after 20 years in the corporate world. I am a big supporter of personal growth and I dedicate time and energy in performing arts education, specifically in the arena of practical approaches to inner health because I believe that this lays the groundwork for a sustainable career as an artiste.

If you would like to engage in a conversation about a healthy inner life practice, please leave me a message on the "Contact" page of my website and a way to contact you. Thank you very much!

How do you play the long game in an industry that thrives on instant success?

How do you play the long game in an industry that thrives on instant success?

1) Firstly, reframe your career as something you are going to be doing for the rest of your life - we’re talking decades here. Ask yourself - can you actually see yourself doing this when you are your parents’ age?

2) Realize that what looks like “instant success” is actually years of hard work. Don’t be fooled by what you see on television. Getting one break is one thing; taking that break - nurturing it, creating more opportunities and building something that is your own is another thing altogether.

3) Keep exploring and redefining what your “ideal” career looks like. One lucky break - if you are lucky enough to get one - isn’t going to set you up for life. Sure, you might have a vague idea of what interests you at this point, but start exploring those little nudges now. Yes, there are people who build their entire career on one moment, but most people don’t. Most people continue to redefine themselves. Idina Menzel has. Lea Salonga has. The Khardashians have.

4) It is a business. At the end of the day, money talks. So every decision is about what maximizes profit. Put on your business hat. If you don’t have one, go and learn about the business of show business.

5) Be deliberate in every step you take. Every choice you make needs to be a deliberate step towards a career that you want to build. I’m not saying that every step will move you closer; what I’m saying is that every step will be a learning opportunity that has to be taken with a clear head grounded with a clear picture of where you are headed.

6) Celebrate all successes, no matter the size. Every step is a step forward - even if it was a painful lesson. Define your own criteria for success. For me, it’s about the tiny improvements I make and the confidence I feel after every new audition. It’s also about successfully creating a new character in my show that I feel really proud of. It’s about having a really powerful conversation with someone I am journeying with.

-

My name is Eu Jin. I embarked on a career as a professional actor after 20 years in the corporate world. I am a big supporter of personal growth and I dedicate time and energy in performing arts education, specifically in the arena of practical approaches to inner health because I believe that this lays the groundwork for a sustainable career as an artiste.

If you would like to engage in a conversation about a healthy inner life practice, please leave me a message on the "Contact" page of my website and a way to contact you. Thank you very much!