The Actor’s Vow

I have recently started taking acting classes with Steve White here in Fairfield. He studied with Sanford Meisner, who says that acting is "to live truthfully under imaginary circumstances," which is why his classes really appeal to me. The first night, he also told us that Katherine Hepburn described acting as "total self knowledge." Also quite appealing!

I have come a long way in living more and more truthfully, but I want to continue to peel of any remaining layers of inauthenticity and social conditioning. I'm looking forward to being more fully authentic in my life in all areas - in my relationships, singing in front of an audience, teaching yoga classes...

My friend Jenna is currently studying at LAMDA, one of the world's premiere acting schools in London, so I told her that I recently took my first acting class. And she sent me this incredible piece of writing, "The Actor’s Vow" by Elia Kazan...Enjoy!!!

"I will take my rightful place on stage
and I will be myself.
I am not a cosmic orphan.
I have no reason to be timid.
I will respond as I feel;
awkwardly, vulgarly,
but respond.

I will have my throat open,
I will have my heart open,
I will be vulnerable.
I may have anything or everything
the world has to offer, but the thing
I need most, and want most,
is to be myself.

I will admit rejection, admit pain,
admit frustration, admit even pettiness,
admit shame, admit outrage,
admit anything and everything
that happens to me.

The best and most human parts of
me are those I have inhabited
and hidden from the world.
I will work on it.
I will raise my voice.
I will be heard."

~ Elia Kazan "The Actors Vow"