Lotus.life — Day 6: Finding my Tribe
This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 6
Today’s challenge is to identify 1–2 key mentors, describe why they inspire me and what questions would I ask if I had 15mins of their time.
This was a tricky one. Hardest yet. Over the past year I’ve managed to seek out and surround myself with kindred spirits in both the acting and improv world, but also the business and start-up environment. These are all people that inspire me, especially the start-up people. Start-up people have an underlying passion, a hunger to make things happen. (I’d lost that feeling until I got involved with the scene.) Some of them don’t know what they want to make happen, but they have the desire. I’m attracted to these sorts of people. Passionate people.
OK, so we’ve already established that I have many strings to my bow, and enjoy each pursuit, so it got me thinking, I don’t actually want to be like any one person, I want to understand someone from each of the fields I get a buzz from. I’ve mentioned people I admire in their fields that I haven’t met personally, but my local tribe need a mention too, because without them I wouldn’t have strived for more.
ACTING: When I first noticed Helen McCrory in the original BBC screenplay of Peaky Blinders (also on Netflix) she blew me away. She has also played theatre in London. I aspire to be as versatile and talented as her on stage and screen. To be able to play the strong and gripping roles that she does. I currently am lucky enough to do both stage and screen at the moment, but a goal is to appear in the West End in a serious play. If I had a call with her, I would ask her: How do you prepare for your characters? and how is your preparation for stage different to on-screen?
IMPROV/COMEDY: I first borrowed and read Tina Fey’s book 2 years ago and realised she was normal, but friggin amazing. (In fact, I still have the book, sorry John F, but thank you!) She’s a business woman, a producer, a writer, and an improvisor. She’s got her head screwed on as my Nan would’ve said. If I had a call with her I would ask her: What made you realise you wanted to write? How did you make the transition from improvising to writing? (Like, step by step)
Local tribe members for the above categories: Tim Harris (currently my husband in The Dresser. We open next week.), Spring Day, Jon Sabay, Vinay Murthy, Michelle Lynn, Roberto Lewis, Chris Wells.
In terms of business and moving that forward, I’m really happy to be in touch with my local tribe, and can’t think of anyone I would like to meet in particular. This is Tokyo. Have you been here? It’s big. Business is big. There are so many talented, awesome people doing their thing here. (Hustling, as Masa Todoroko taught me to not feel ashamed to do!) I just stay here and the mountains come to me. Maybe just one meeting, or maybe I get involved in longer term projects, either way, I get to meet some very successful and passionate people in their fields. Seriously Tokyo is the biz. So my local/visiting tribe keep me grounded and on track and the unexpected visitors leave their impressions.
My local/visiting tribe: Masa, Marvin Liao, Renita Kalhorn, Helen Iwata (twice featured in 2days, it’s your last mention Helen, I promise!). These people inspire me in different ways and keep me interested in moving forward. And not to forget the many relevant, inspiring groups I’m affiliated with on Facebook and Linked in.
So, that’s it for today. I’ve got 19mins left on my timer (Tomato Time in Day 5), which means I can post this everywhere, kick back and have a welcomed glass of chablis, watch Eastenders, and still sleep, ready to wake refreshed for a high-end client and rehearsals tomorrow. I bid ye goodnight folks!
Previous posts in this challenge:
Day 1: What’s holding me back?
Day 4: What are my Superpowers?
