How To Handle Times Of Uncertainty

When you’re auditioning + booking, you feel on top of the world, and when you’re not, it can sometimes be hard to get up in the morning or even know what to do with your day.  I get it.  I’ve been there.  It’s frustrating, to say the least.

But guess what? As actors, more often than not, there’s going to be times when it feels like “nothing is going on” + things feel uncertain.

The good news?  Those times can also change on a dime.

So, instead of filling the void with doubts, what if you began to actually love the void?

The late, great Wayne Dyer really explains it best…

I’ve taken so many quantum leaps during times of uncertainty, that I know personally it is not only possible, but probable.

Here are a few…

10 things I’ve done during times of “uncertainty” (that turned into new possibilities)

1. Tried Stand-Up comedy (ended up performing for 7 years)
2. Trained for the Malibu Triathlon (ended up competing 2 years in a row)
3. Planted a garden (now my sons and I do it together)
4. Started writing to inspire others (turned into ActorInspiration.com + the newsletter you are reading)
5. Started writing + recording guided meditations (2 albums + 28 meditations later, I’ve helped actors worldwide find more happiness + book more jobs)
6. Enjoyed time with my young children (time I will never get back + memories that are priceless to me)
7. Got back into dance class (inspired me to add a mirrored wall + ballet barre to our garage – my own dance studio)
8. Watched more sunsets at the beach (ended up meeting a guy there who I dated for 1 1/2 years.  That relationship helped me get so much clearer in what I really wanted in a mate.)
9. Took time to go to the beach with a new guy I was dating (ended up marrying him (9 years ago) + now we have 2 beautiful children!)
10. Got clearer on what I really wanted (helped me say no to projects I didn’t want + better offers came in)

It’s not that I didn’t have any days where I was bummed out, feeling down or completely frustrated.  I’ve had plenty.  I still do.

It’s just that eventually I get myself moving.

And anytime I’ve moved in the direction of my fear (stand up comedy, swimming in the ocean, getting married, even having children, getting clear + saying “no”) a quantum leap has usually occurred.

So, if acting is about bringing the human experience to life through the stories we tell, then having more human experiences is going to help you be a better actor.  Period.

If all I did during those times of uncertainty was shoot new headshots + take acting classes (which I’m all for, as long as it’s not the ONLY thing on your list), think of all the “new possibilities” I would’ve robbed myself from having.

I would have never become a stand-up comic, a triathlete, a gardener, a mentor for actors, an entrepreneur, a wife, a mother, and ultimately, through it all, a much better actress.

You are here to have a full life experience, one that brings you joy + happiness.

My best advice is to not allow whether you are working or auditioning to dictate your happiness.

What should you do instead?  Get outside.  Rediscover what you loved to do as a kid.  Take a class.  Take a road trip.  Get moving, and who knows, just as you are in the middle of doing what brings you JOY….you’ll probably get an audition or book a job.

Here’s to a week of rediscovering what you love, loving the uncertainty of it all + making space for a quantum leap.

Love + Gratitude,

~Wendy

P.S.  I’d love to hear what keeps you sane in times of uncertainty.  Share it in the comments below.