3 Ways Acting Invigorates the Ordinary

A few weeks ago I pinned a guy against the wall and seduced him to get into the shower with me.

You’re thinking, wow, this chick’s blog just got super personal super quick. Though that opening sentence maintains its integrity, I had only actually been “living truthfully under imaginary circumstances” as I did so for an acting class.

Today I watched some videos of the final skit productions that we had performed for my beloved theater class. The glamour of acting was introduced to me before I had taken the class when I saw my sister in a few high school plays, but I had never really appreciated the depth of its charm until I actually did it (or tried to do it) myself.

The first thing that I discovered when I started acting was that I had absolutely no talent for it at all. My performance as a treacherous seductress in my final skit probably made a few of the audience members sick. But that’s okay! I tried it. And learned from it.

What gives acting its allure? As an entertainment-based culture, we give our unlimited attention to Hollywood stars and many fight hard for a spot in the industry. All civilizations in the distant past appear to have enjoyed some form of ritual dance, song, and storytelling as well. The greeks may have ignited the first flames of theater with their dithyrambs earlier than 335 BC, but I can definitely imagine even cavemen playing some prehistoric form of Charades in their caves way before that. So what makes this art so appealing?

I feel that I've discovered the true allure of acting. There are many lessons that I hope to apply to my life both as a future teacher and as an individual after taking several theater classes. The following are just 3 ways that acting has taught me to invigorate the ordinary:

1. Exploring Perspectives

To perform a convincing acting role, you must learn to literally put yourself in someone else’s shoes. Some actors may take this a little bit too far (RIP Heath Ledger), which is called immersive acting. But regardless of the depth to which an actor may devote himself to a role, on every occasion he must dive deep into the character’s experience to really identify the character’s mindset. Children do this all the time; they allow their imaginations to be so vivid that they actually believe what they imagine. Acting means knowing the whole story about someone, as opposed to making assumptions or accusations about why a character may behave a certain way.

2. Being Mindful of Your Objectives

Our acting coach taught us that every single character must always have a very specific objective; they must need or want something out of another character. Acting also requires a character to invest all of their energy into said objective. It requires an elevation of the stakes. Why shouldn’t we raise the stakes for ourselves in reality? Our next objective (whatever it may be) should always be specific, and should always be something that we invest ourselves entirely in. Acting means giving action a purpose.

This concept also reminds me of Ruiz’s third agreement – to never take things personally. Since everyone has their own objectives in life, it makes sense that we can never be responsible for the actions of others; we are only responsible for ourselves. Additionally, a good way to discover someone else’s objective (in a relationship, in a job setting, in a murder trial), is to focus on a person’s actions rather than on their words. In any acting scenario, a character’s actions tell the truth and their words often tell a lie.

3. Letting Go to Learn

A good actor feels no shame. They release their inhibitions and they express themselves fully in the roles that they play. But how can we express ourselves by acting like someone else? Our own identities are affirmed offstage by establishing an identity that is different from our own on stage. The best way to learn from life itself is by doing things that we’ve never done before. Acting gives us a chance to do this and to explore another’s identity which we can then compare to our own.




These are only fanny-pack sized messages that I will carry with me, because the full backpack versions of what acting has taught me are too long to incorporate on a blog entry that most people just like to skim through. Also, acting doesn’t have to take place on stage — as a waitress, I put on a performance every day. Of course as a waitress I only act as myself, but I’m still selling a sparkling version of myself to my audience with eager hopes of earning some massive tips. We are all actors, but I encourage you to discover the meaningful intricacies of this art next time you’re in the spotlight.

Invigorating the ordinary means exploring perspectives, establishing specific objectives, and practicing expression through self-discovered learning.

Acting means giving action a purpose.