37. The seed of love

I was reading Mastin Kipp’s The Daily Love blog yesterday and something wonderful was talked about that really resonated with me as an actor.   In here he shares about wanting new things and working towards spiritual growth and used a wonderful illustration of a plant that you are growing from a seed:

“Can you imagine planting a seed in a garden, watering it, giving it everything it needs to grow and then coming back an hour later, or a day later and being devastated that the seed hasn’t turned into the plant and created fruit yet? I mean, HOW ridiculous is THAT? It’s truly a crazy thought.” – Mastin Kipp

Isn’t that exactly what acting is like.  We go and train, work our little buts off, hustling, networking, learning scripts, getting headshots, sending out letters, going to workshops, hearing guest speakers, doing more hustling, and we think “hell, shouldn’t I have been discovered by now”.

We are just little seeds that, once planted and cared for with water and love, will grow and flourish in our surroundings.  But we need the right amount of water daily (acting training, practice, routine), the right amount of love (listening to what our bodies need both in body and mind) and enough sunlight (support and training) to make us shine and grow.  If we don’t, our dreams will falter, our little plant with wither away, and before we know it we’ll come back and the seedling or flower will be nothing more than dirt.  It’s up to us to nurture our own little acting plant.

Wow.  I’m quite excited by this. Especially because, like Mastin, I’m about wanting everything now. But if I think about that little seed I planted all those years ago and how teeny tiny the stalk was when it first burst though the soil compared to now, I can’t help but smile.  I just keep growing and growing.  And you do too.  And even when a leaf dies, or something goes wrong, it’s still two steps forward and only one backwards. So remember that every little bit helps and don’t be in such a rush to get there that you forget to water your acting plant daily and find a little bit of sun.

And while you are at it, take a moment to check how your friend’s flowers are going.  Maybe they could use a little bit of love and care too.

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