I recently met someone at a fitness class, and we got to chatting as we were leaving. When I shared with her that I was an actor, her immediate reaction was one of bewilderness and excitment. She exclaimed loudly: “You’re the first actor I’ve ever met!” Over the course of our 10 minute conversation, she repeated the same exclamation: “You’re the first actor I’ve ever met!” another 4 times.
Truth be told - after the 2nd time she said it, I started to feel like a zoo animal being looked at by a large crowd. After the 4th time, I started to feel like an alien from another planet surrounded by trigger-happy scientists ready to dissect me with a scalpel.
I felt extremely uncomfortable.
But then I realized: maybe it’s because people don’t understand. And if I - consciously or even unconsciously - draw a line in the sand and stand on one side, hoping people understand me, nothing will change. What I need to do is to erase the line in the sand and consciously stand TOGETHER with everyone else.
I need to communicate to be understand, not to be heard.
There is a clear difference. Communicating to be heard is like that teacher we’ve all had in school who is clearly brilliant but simply regurgitates fact after fact. Communicating to be understood is that teacher we love - who makes learning exciting, who deciphers what we need, who meets us halfway on our learning journey, who succeeds in helping us demystify, de-codify and even begin to appreciate and love a perilously complicated subject.
So back to the lady from my fitness class. Perhaps when I see her the next time, I need to stop and listen to what she needs to understand. Because once we listen and we understand, perhaps the next realization will be that we aren’t all that different after all.
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My name is Eu Jin. I embarked on a career as a professional actor after 20 years in the corporate world. I am a big advocate of personal growth in the performing arts. I dedicate time and energy in performing arts education, specifically in the arena of practical approaches to inner health because I believe that this lays the groundwork for a sustainable career as an artiste.
If you would like to engage in a conversation about a healthy inner life practice, please leave me a message on the "Contact" page of my website and a way to contact you. Thank you!