Monkey See, Monkey Do

A few days ago, I was at a complete loss as to what to write for my weekly blog. It’s my first week back in the city, and I would be lying if I said it was easy. It seems like the last time I was here, everything was different. I still had my dad and was hopeful for his recovery. I’ve been fighting this empty feeling inside, like everything I knew and loved was ripped from me. But I know that’s a lie.

I believe in not only performing, creating, writing, auditioning and even the real world, there is a truth and a promise in the ability to visualize. The power in this ability is changing your visualization from something negative to a tangible positive. Rather than remembering my father wheelchair bound, I am trying to choose to remember him as he was -- smiling, laughing and playing the piano. Yes, in my head I see his struggles the past year, but that is not who he was. As with the visualization of my father, we also choose how to visualize our goals.

Before going into an audition, do you imagine your best possible work or do you think of the worst case scenario?

Various psychological studies have been explored to study this phenomenon. While in high school, for an AP Psych project my sister asked our soccer team to shoot a soccer ball and then shoot it again while first imagining scoring a goal. A lot of us scored the second time. Maybe we just tried harder, I don't know. The brain is a powerful thing.

I wouldn’t say I’m an optimistic person overall. I have many fears and struggle to understand concepts and ideas broader than myself and beyond my reach, but I can say that my imagination is powerful. If I can remember the feel of my father’s hand when I was a child, or if I can imagine a casting director’s face after I absolutely nail an audition for say, a dream role in an indie feature, then I am going to choose to visualize those things – because if I can visualize them, then they were real, are real, and can even happen.