Day 48

I sometimes wonder where the line exists between keeping yourself involved and over committing yourself.

I am the master at walking along this line, as are a lot of people I know in the theatre world. It's very very rare that good actors aren't in multiple projects of varying degrees at one time. There's that mentality that good actors are always working in some sense, and I find that to be true a lot of the time. But I sometimes wonder how much is too much? Is there a point when you have to turn projects down because it would be too much to handle?

Last semester I almost lost balance on that line. I did waaaaay too many projects without a break, and I almost lost my mind. But I learned things from each project I was involved with, so I don't regret being involved with it. This semester is slowly turning into that again, except this time I'm doing other projects that don't really involve acting. I'm taking a more activities organizer role, especially with APO. I've started all these little projects that take as much work, if not more, than actually acting in a show. And me, being the perfectionist I am, has to finish everything that I start. So now I'm juggling a classes, a show, a film-like thing, APO, these activities, and a semi-social life. I'll have some moments where I just stop and ask myself why am I doing all this?

I know I need to say no sometimes, but I love this theatre thing too damn much. And I want to share my ideas and be involved as much as possible. Over-committing is part of the territory with theatre, and I'm not the only one who is in the situation. At least there are others who understand the stress and can sympathize.