(reprinted from my coaching blog- sorry for the duplication!)

Howdy, folks! It is great to be back. Let me start by saying that I highly recommend vacations- if you do it right, you’ll have gotten enough rest and recreation and end up really WANTING to come back to work. Of course, it helps to have a career path that excites and inspires you, but even if you have a “day job” getting away can really do amazing things for your spirit.

I spent 8 days visiting my hometown of San Diego, my alma mater Pepperdine University and its surrounding cities in Los Angeles County, and Vegas, baby! Talking with my theater friends in SD and being around industry folks in LA has refueled my fire for acting professionally. And I mean REALLY professionally, like earning a large majority of my income from acting (right now it is hovering around 50%.) I have also learned that the best way to feel good about your career is to talk to people who don’t get to be a part of your every day life- and then tell them about what you have accomplished. What might seem “ho-hum” to you will sound like the most glamorous, dream-filled life to those around you. And this is a good thing to remember! I sometimes forget that I have created a life where I pursue what I love, and I call all of the shots. It really is fantastic, and it often takes an outsider to shake me out of my limited view to see that, WOW, I am doing something incredible!

Some funny and great stuff happened in my career while I was on my trip:

- My first episode of One Life To Live aired on July 3 on ABC. On that same day, casting called me and offered me a third episode, playing the same role of “Palace Maid.” Be sure to check out IMDB to see when the episode is posted!
- While in San Diego at one of our old watering holes, my boyfriend Tom had a conversation with a woman who he knew years ago. He was a proud papa and talked about my OLTL episode, and she had actually seen it that day! It was awesome to be recognized (albeit, through Tom) - would love to have it happen spontaneously!
- I met with one of my friends who happens to be the mother of an actor from my all time favorite TV show. She told me that he is now living in NYC and she told him about my coaching service- not that he needs it, but she thinks he can certainly take advantage of my networking events. WOOHOO!!! Now, if I could only get her to introduce us... I would be reduced to a quivering teenage girl in no time.
- I was called in for an audition for a new web series, which is being cast by a CD that I met at The Network. My time doing the audition seminars has certainly paid off recently, as has my relentless follow up by mail!

Like I said... it’s good to be back.

You're an "actor." It's Monday morning, the start of a new work week, and maybe you're off to your day job (or, like me, you're trying to figure out how to avoid getting one), and you're thinking:

. . . When is it all going to happen? How?! is it going to happen?

These are understandable questions and concerns, but -- they're not great questions.

They're not great questions because they cause you to focus on the wrong thing. Ask instead, How can I make it happen? What do I need to do to make it happen? And then believe -- know -- that a way exist.

The author's need is to write the play. The actor's most important need is to interpret the play.
(The Great Stella Adler, from the chapter "The Actor's First Approach To The Author" in her The Technique of Acting. Also author of the seminal acting book: The Art Of Acting)

I don't want to split hairs over terminology, but the word interpret shades too close to subjectivity for my taste, and whether Ms. Adler meant that or not -- probably not -- the reader could easily take that away from her dictum.

So, if you're an actor, to more clearly understand your First Approach To The Author, let's hear what Charles L. Mee has to say about his job: