Some of you reading this blog may not yet have all it takes to live exactly how you want to. Maybe your finances won’t allow it, maybe you’re busy caring for a sick relative, maybe you have other commitments or maybe you don’t have quite enough courage.
Whatever the reasons for your lack of action so far, don’t despair. There are plenty of ways you can temporarily escape from your job without having to quit.
Think of these activities as weekly mini-vacations where you can forget about work and live as another person for a few hours. I suppose some would call them hobbies. I consider them integral to maintaining a healthy work-life balance and staying creative.
I’ve used a number of different types of escapes successfully in the past when I wanted to get away but couldn’t take time off. I’ll profile some different rejuvenating activities in coming posts.
This time I’d like to share my experience with taking a beginning acting class. If my idea of an escape option doesn’t strike a chord with you, hopefully it will at least help you to think of other ways to get away.
Acting Class Isn’t Just for Actors
Taking an acting class is probably a really scary idea for most people. Getting up in front of other people to act out a character definitely takes guts.
The benefits of taking an acting class for most people aren’t in learning to be the next Sean Penn, Frances McDormand or Phillip Seymour Hoffman. As a casual acting student, the real value in taking an acting class is in self exploration and understanding.
Taking a beginning acting class from a serious instructor (preferably someone who teaches method acting like Shelley Mitchell in San Francisco) is an incredibly enriching and therapeutic experience.
To play another character effectively, you first have to understand who you really are underneath the public facade you wear every day. You must get to know what makes you tick and why you act how you do when confronted with uncomfortable situations. This process of understanding can lead to incredible breakthroughs in personal growth.
Taking an acting class can be a wonderfully transformative experience for most people. There are a number of other benefits we haven’t discussed including gaining confidence, becoming a better speaker and understanding other people’s emotions and motivations.
Anyone who wants to make major life changes and understand themselves better would do well to take an acting class.
If you’re on the fence about what an acting class could mean to you, pick up a book about acting like “Truth: Personas, Needs, and Flaws in The Art of Building Actors and Creating Characters” by Susan Batson. Her book distills much of the insights you’ll gain from taking a class. Don’t think you can get away with just reading the book though. You’ll need to experience what she’s talking about to have any chance of meaningful change.
Have you had a positive experience with taking an acting class? What other ways do you escape from your job? Let me know in the comments!
If you liked this article, subscribe to Free Pursuits so you don’t miss any others!
photo by Michael Connors for openphoto.net
I escape(d) work by doing the following:
1. Traveling as often as I could on even short trips (at one point I was an engineer for United Airlines so it was free)
2. Took up salsa dancing and ended up becoming semi-pro.
3. Perfected my French and took up another language after that was complete
All-in-all, I work to live not live to work and try to do things that allow me to grow. You never know when one of your favorite activities could turn into a new career or how it may expand your network and open doors in other exciting ways.
Hi Tiani. Thanks for sharing your examples. They’re all great options (I plan to write about learning a foreign language in a future post). I’m glad that you also made the point about how a “hobby” can turn into much more. Keep on traveling, dancing and learning!
-Corbett
I think it’s very important to find a passion. For me, it’s writing. I know others who love to perform or paint or play an instrument. I think it helps us discover more about ourselves.
Maybe, someday, I’ll learn how to slasa dance
.
Great post.
Hi Rebecca. Thanks for reading, and thanks for the comment. Passion is definitely important. I hope to write more about it in upcoming posts. Keep pursuing your dreams.
-Corbett
Hi Corbett
I have been thinking of taking acting classes for the same reasons.
One thing that I’m doing now which is really good for self expression is swing dancing. ie, the lindy hop, bal boa, the charleston. These types of dancing allow for a lot of self expression as there isn’t a lot of formal rules around what you should do. Plus if you stuff up/make a mistake, you just call it a variation. “)
Hey Adam, I like dance classes as well, although I’ve never taken anything too serious. Mostly just recreational classes for me. My wife and I took salsa and had a great time. Thanks for reminding me, we’ve been wanting to do another dance class soon as well.