My Big Break

 I love teaching.  Not as much as I love acting, but man does my job have its perks!  Number one perk being, school vacations!  Yep, just like the kids, I'm on Spring Break!  


Time off is just bliss... usually.  I'm fine with one week, but go longer than that and I get... depressed.  Sounds strange to even admit, but true.  I get sad that I'm not running around being busy, and if it's not  a busy time for me as an actress that fact is amplified, making me sadder!  I am a woman who needs a schedule!  Without it NOTHING gets done and I become a worthless pile of pajamas on the couch.


Actress and awesome friend Jen Nikolaisen got me in the routine of doing yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily goals.  We used to email them to each other on Sunday nights and then check back in at the end of the week to see how we did.  A very helpful technique!  Thanks Jen!  Expect my goals this Sunday night!  I'm going to sleep in every day I can this week, but by golly I am going to get some stuff done!  Happily!!


Happy Friday Everyone!!  

Easy, Green & Happy!

  Can I just talk about a few things I love?  Ok, if you read my post Demo What? you heard me talk about how important it is these days for actors to "show, not tell" what they do best, and that there's really no excuse these days for an actor not to have a demo reel.  And while you originally may want to use one of the amazing demo reel editors I mentioned in that post, how about keeping it updated? Yourself?  I'm not edgy nor cool enough to own a Mac, so I have to settle for Windows Movie Maker... which I LOVE!!!  It's SO super easy.  Here's the latest cut of my reel I updated this afternoon: The Beth Shea Demo Reel  


OK, my last name is Shea, my dog's name is Bailey, yup I'm Irish.  And I love that wearing green tomorrow drastically narrows down my outfit choices ( I always pick out my work clothes the night before, a chore I LOATHE!).  I love that "Flash Forward" is coming back on Thursday and I LOVE that my handsome man is working from home now :)  And that he's keeping my other handsome man company.  Happiness is good!!  

Hungry and Foolish

  A wise person once said, "Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."   And happiness is exactly what is driving someone close to me to quit his job as a recruiter, at time when the job market is in the toilet, and positions such as his are highly coveted.  Former colleagues of his have told him he's nuts.   Plenty of recruiters with decades more experience have been without a job for well over a year now. But what's the point of dedicating your life to something, when all you're really driven by is the weekend?  Steve Jobs would ask himself, 

“If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."  He'd also say "Stay hungry.  Stay foolish."  GREAT words to live by.  Imagine what our day to day lives would look like if people didn't feel shackled to their jobs, resentful that they have to be there at all, essentially waiting to die or retire so it can just all be over. What would a trip to the DMV look like on that day?