My Next Tattoo

01 Monday Oct 2012

Tags

Bodyart, career, goals, life purpose, Tattoo, theatre

I love tattoos, but I take them very seriously. This one took me over a year to choose. It is also on a very discreet part of my body, so no one ever sees it.

I got it for my 30th birthday to remind me that I’m on the right path. When I was approaching my thirties, I got it into my head that I needed to grow up and get a real job. I quit acting for a year and went to business college. I actually managed to fool myself for eight months that I didn’t want to be an actor anymore. However, when the time came to look for a “real job,” I simply couldn’t stomach the idea of working in an office, 9 to 5 p.m. every day for the rest of my life. I cried myself to sleep every night – I had never been so miserable. That’s when it hit me. Even at my worst moments of being an actor, I was still happy because I was living my life with purpose and passion. And simply because there were times of hardship and sacrifice, didn’t mean that you throw the baby out with the bath water. I went back to my life in the theatre, and never regretted the decision to walk away my business college education (however, I do regret the student loans I’m still paying).

I needed to make sure this never happened again, so I tattooed the lesson I had learned on my body.

I began acting professionally when I was 15, and my very first director told me,”If you want the rose, you have to accept the thorns. As in this business, success comes with pain.” Whenever I get sulky or depressed because I’m not working as much as I’d like to, or I think my career sucks, the tattoo reminds me that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.

Tattoos are also addictive. As soon as I got that one, I wanted another. But being an actor, you have to make sure that they either can’t be seen or can be covered up easily. I have a two epic trips planned in the near future, and I want tattoos to commemorate them both. Next summer, Will, my brother, and I are going to travel the States in a VW Westfalia for four weeks. And in 2018, for my 40th birthday, Will and I are going to walk the Camino de Santiago. Considering it took me so long to choose my first tattoo, I’m going to start thinking about what I want now, and where I want it. I’m leaning towards simple text this time.

Here’s my inspiration:

1 Alis Volat Propiis (She Flies with her own Wings) / 2 Create / 3 Curiosity often leads to trouble

Life Lessons Learned?

29 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by Jamie Lee in My Life

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Tags

career, gut feeling, jobs, Lesson, life lessons, mind, trust

In my office, above my desk, hang four clipboards. They have been decked out with pretty paper and mod podge. The original purpose of these clipboards was to corral the loose papers and bills and notes that float around my office into one place where I can clearly see them and deal with them. However, the clipboards have come to serve an even higher purpose: to recall life lessons that I really ought to know by now.

I have learned many lessons in my 34 years on Earth, often repeating the same lesson three or four or five (or more) times before it really sinks in.

One of them, I re-learned very recently. I started and quite an office job in two weeks. Yup, I quite after TWO WEEKS. One of my very first posts talks about the absolute stupidity I felt at that job. It was soooooooo the wrong job for me. My gut knew it immediately. Even at the interview, it just didn’t feel right. Unfortunately, I let my mind talk me into it. It’s easy to listen to your mind over your gut. The gut doesn’t communicate in language; it just gives you a feeling. The mind is trickier – it uses reason and logic. My mind often trumps my gut. Temporarily. My gut always wins out in the end. Which makes me wonder why I can’t trust my gut in the first place. So what is my life lesson that hangs on a clipboard above my desk?

I actually learned this lesson way back in 2007, mere weeks before finishing an Administrative Assistant Diploma. As everyone else was excited about interviews and job prospects, I was crying myself to sleep at night because everything felt so wrong. I didn’t want to work in an office. I didn’t want to be someone’s assistant. I didn’t want to work full-time, even if it meant benefits and paid holidays. I thought I wanted all that, but I didn’t. Once again, my gut knew, but my mind talked me into it. So, I finished the course, and promptly went back to being a self-employed actor.

But it seems, one time wasn’t enough for the lesson to sink in. I learned the lesson again in 2009, and again in 2011, and most recently, in January of this year. So, I made the sign. And, no joke, three days after I quite, I said to Will, “Mmmm, my friend’s office is hiring a temporary receptionist. Maybe I should apply.” Will replied, “Are you serious?”

I went into the office and stared at my sign. Good lord, will I ever learn?

Rules for being human (jovianzayne.com)

In the Beginning, there was the Word

21 Tuesday Feb 2012

Posted by Jamie Lee in My Life

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Tags

acting, career, first post, new blog, writing

”If I want to get hired to do something, I should already be doing it. People can’t always see potential energy. Instead of allowing a current job description to stand in the way, turn off the Scrubs re-runs and start a side project. Draw a picture, code a site, or write something and share it with the Internet.”

- Trent Walton (You Are What You Eat)

And so begins my blog.

I’m thinking about a career change lately (or rather, a career addition), and I have the desire to write, but how does one take an acting career and turn it into a writing career? Well, I believe the best way to learn to act is to act, so maybe the best way to learn to write is to write.

So, I’ll write. And drink coffee. Americanos in particular.