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Through the Lens of Gia

Trusting Humanity as a Consequence to Life and Death as a Multifaceted Artist

By Lindsey SherwinPublished 4 years ago 5 min read
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Immersing in threads of hope and insecurity, pain, and trauma, the injustices, fears and uncertainties, the feeling of being unseen and unheard, not being witnessed, or validated, along with the actions of others can have bold consequences for our careers in the entertainment industry, and especially in our personal lives. These elements of human behavior and human being ness can significantly influence our social development both as individuals and as artists.

This coveted story told through the eyes of Gia, a famous model, takes my role of actress into a new dimension of feeling and empathy for her life and the challenges she experiences throughout.

How bumpy a road it is to want to be known and appreciated for what we do and more, valued for who we are as people.

This validation we seek as artists and as individuals does not typically come to pass, we hardly see it from others, and are more often recognized or noticed for our work in this business rather than what we actually created in the process.

This presents a kind of burden on the soul, as she makes the analogy to “when a person dies, albeit death, they still have a soul”, and secondly, to her point, “there is still something in there when they were alive”.

This is consistently the case for so many, both artists known and unknown, that simply desire to feel their presence validated for the presence and their offering of curiosity and beauty at the same time, of who they are, not only for what they can do. That is art. To most of us anyway.

This piece only helps to elucidate the expression of her pain, in the role, but my goal, as the actor, was to embody that same feeling in order to convey it to a larger audience of actors and artists that might resonate with these same struggles and hardships in the arts. The me and the not me is a coined phrase that I often share with my audiences and fans and that I choose to carry with me when I play such a role, but also carried as an artist myself intentionally wanting to be witnessed and recognized for my value. That is just a human thing.

And it bears no less importance than it would for someone who doesn’t identify as being an actor or an artist of any kind- as the start of all artistry is recognizing that everything that makes us human exists in art. Every actor is a human first and every human an actor.

Each of us must be an artist, since, for the world we are human, and that is the most responsible job one could ever have.

Gia‘s reach towards her own self courage pushes me as an actor to stand up for my own resilience and find it in the face of an array of difficult choices, while trying to understand them and the perspectives of the stories in which they unfold.

The biggest challenge being the tapering back and forth between another person’s responses to my difficult emotions, and how to continue proceeding in my journey despite their reactions.

Learning to appreciate them and own them as mine in every moment no matter what that director or agent thinks about me is not their story it’s mine.

And I must believe in that as artist and as human.

Unconditional Acceptance for self and others with varying roles in this industry is a constant problem for actors and artists.

Raising awareness about the internal and yet often announced pressures that creators experience throughout the process of auditioning, trying to gain agency, having an agent, managers, and collaborating with other industry professionals just to obtain “success” proves how the exertion of power and control is used for and against us in what is an extremely draining and yet rewarding world.

The overall mental health of artists is critically important for them to stay prepared and attain some level of financial security and also maintain emotional sustenance for a period of time without giving up on their most powerful goals and dreams.

Similar to the analogy of “a crack in the mirror is the only place where the light gets in, we must do more than merely acknowledge the daily challenges we are up against, but also admit to our silences, the shame we feel when it is harder to express the feelings we feel and yearn to get out and allow to breathe;

the many thoughts, opinions, words, buried underneath our surface, which helps commit to the voice we have inside even stronger; but that can at times be uncomfortable to share with others.

The deeper message of this piece, but also in the act of performing it, is in the action of choosing to cultivate that morsel of hope and commitment to ourselves intertwined with the capacity of human spirit to grow and lead ALL of us in encouraging artists around the globe to tell their stories. We share so much more than we fear separates us.

It is the most important of all human acts we can attribute to the rise of great performers everywhere whereby despair no longer interferes in the process of creation or of defining our greatness.

Cheers to the brave and harmonious artists who are consistently unafraid to stand up for themselves no matter the experience on the inside. It’s all part of the creator’s journey and we can all appreciate that powerful reality.

Empathy is underrated. It just is. Among all groups and communities.

Therefore, I sincerely believe contributing to its enactment begins with passing it on like a flame, so that it may light each of us carrying its torch, illuminating the way,

walking our own unique creative paths; embracing the feelings that arise as we are guided on our way by the choices we make, and accepting wherever they may lead. In each moment.

I hope you enjoy this piece and thank you for watching.

Written by:

Lindsey Sherwin

Actor, Therapeutic Drama Practitioner, Artist Entrepreneur

humanity
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