Lesson Two: Don't hold your butt cheeks

What a lesson. It's taken more than a few days to process that. Tensions were high last class, but surprisingly my anxiety didn't flare up? Perhaps because I have this pre-conceived notion that I prepared myself to get yelled at when I stepped into the pool of acting. Though it would probably have hit harder were we all in person. Still, I'm glad for the bluntness of Jon's words because as he said, he doesn't do bullshit. I take that to mean he doesn't take OR give it and I have a profound respect for that. Honestly I think a part of me WANTS to be beat up so I can rise from it and find that "Aha!" moment that Lauren talked about in her post.

The lesson itself was a great introspective way of getting into our own heads and to be honest looking back I THINK the reason for the finger and the physical directions were also to keep us balancing the present moment too. Correct me if I'm wrong, Jon. It's funny, I take so few notes in my voice acting workshops but omg I have PAGES of notes from these classes. That metaphor of driving a familiar route unconsciously vs an unfamiliar mapped out one hit home really hard for me. Not knowing how you got somewhere can at times be scary for me. I know I personally wrestled with that fear a lot while I was learning to drive in my teens. "How did I do that?" "What if someone got hurt?" "Is this really safe?" "What if I get hurt and don't notice it?". VERY similar emotions popped up during this exercise.

Some of my takeaways: Remembering to always be in "The Thin Thing" - confident, relaxed, excited, spontaneous, focused, vulnerable and RECEPTIVE. It's like warm ups, if you aren't in the right space, you won't get as much from the exercise and you are more likely to get hurt.

Learning the importance of remaining still and patient as you observe the other students was also a big one for me, especially over Zoom because I have a tendency to "zone out" or try to multitask on the side. I will make an effort to be more focused and in tune with whats on the screen. I even downloaded the Forest app so I could plant a tree while I ignored my phone distractions!

"Don't try to win, don't try to be better. Just feel it."

Also please excuse my word vomit. I do not fancy myself a writer and I can barely keep up a gratitude journal in my personal life, so most of this is incomplete thoughts and feelings with no real connection.

Thanks for all the honesty and they way you explained things here

Very happy to hear your voice. These posts are very important and lead me to a better understanding on how to serve you best.

we LOVE word vomit! heehehe don't apologize for expressing your thoughts!
xoxoxo

Shananigans, we have similar thought processes! ;/