...But WHERE is "THERE"??

"I can't wait until I get there."

"Once I get there, I won't have to work as hard."

"See that?  THERE is where I want to be!!"

How many times do we say or hear statements like this?  I know I'm guilty of it, just like anyone else.  We all have this ideal in our minds of what it'll be like to live life when we get "there."

As an Actor, I've always had my sweet little ideals tucked away of my own "there."  What's great, is that I'm also an Acting Coach and a lot of my students also talk about their versions of "there."  A couple of my students and I have wound up discussing "there" quite a bit over the last week.

Which raises the question:  WHERE IS "THERE"?? 

"There" lives in our minds.  It's what fuels our dreams and goals.  It's the place that makes us want to work harder and put forth more effort--like putting more gas in our cars to get "there."  "There" is a beautiful land that once we reach, we can rest on our laurels and dust our hands off with satisfaction.  We can finally quit working so hard, cuz we are "THERE"!

Or are we? 

If you look at someone like Angelina Jolie, who's probably in the top 3 of the most famous faces in the world, you see someone who keeps striving and working.  I'm sure in most Actor's minds, that chick is definitely "there."  Then why would she want to write and direct her own Feature Film when she did In the Land of Blood and Honey?  I dare to surmise it's because there's a new level of "there" that even she'd like to achieve.

When I first started studying Acting, I really wanted to be in Indie Films and work in other aspects of the industry as well.  Hhhhmmm... Here I am!  I've now been in several Indie Films, I get to coach other Actors and I've dipped into the world of Producing.  Compared to my vision of then, I've reached my "there."  But now my perspective has changed.  There's more that I want to do and I have a whole new version of "there."  I thrive on challenges and I love to grow.  I love having a schedule that has me on set Acting one day, coaching someone the next and all the while working as a Production Coordinator on something else and meeting with my NY partner Kimberly Amato on Skype discussing pitching one of our film projects or discussing a shot list with my guy Christopher Nelson for something we're shooting soon.  This is the exact life I set up for myself when I first started this journey.

I'm hardly resting on my laurels.  In fact, I'm working harder than before to reach my next "there." 

The bottom line, really, is that our perspective shifts when we accomplish goals.  We set higher ones.  We figure out the steps and we start climbing up, one baby step at a time.  It's part of what makes humanity so friggin' awesome.  Our insatiable curiosity about what's around the bend. 

So let's get curious together and seek out our next THERE.