Fulfillment isn’t something we achieve but rather something that we experience from moment to moment.
Every art offers that possibility and most, if not all people drawn to the arts are looking for that fulfillment. Even if someone is simply drawn to the art of acting by the desire for fame, within that desire is a yet unrealized and deeper desire for fulfillment.
In our daily life, we experience truthful self-expression. When we go with friends for a night out, when we embark on a holiday, when we win the lottery, when our car breaks down, when we say the wrong thing amongst a mixed group of people… all day long, every day, we experience our truthful self-expression.
But art, every art, opens up the world of self-expression unrelated to winning or losing on the ladder of success. It is an expression outside of reacting to everyday activities. It has nothing to do with excitement for, or disappointment from, our daily experiences. Whether it is music, dance, pottery, drawing, painting, singing, or acting… the expression that is there to be experienced, is outside of reacting to, and instead is an opening for the artist to dive, as deep as they wish to go.
The difficulty is, right beside this opening for fulfillment, is a much larger and much easier opening to enter. That opening is different from “find fulfillment”. The second opening is “get a thrill”. The arts offer that as well.
When a person transfers that ladder of success in everyday life, the ladder of excitement versus disappointment, and plants that firmly in their art, the opening for fulfillment closes. The art becomes about the thrill and is related to success and failure as we see it in our everyday life.
This has nothing to do with working or not working in acting, and everything to do with the actor’s focus.
It’s important to clarify the path, and once clarified, to stay on it.