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Kristen,
I have the understanding that you’ve been involved with an acting training program for approximately three years now. I also understand that within this training, you’ve been instructed to abandon, or rather, separate yourself from your friends and family simultaneously to fully immerse yourself within the group and instruction of Mr. Geis. With that being said, I do empathize with demanding requirements to better capture, strengthen and understand your abilities and weaknesses in accordance to produce the greatest product your talent possesses. Education is absolutely essential in fine tuning the abilities and greatness you seek towards your professional career. I myself had training that dealt similarly. I was taught how to emotionally separate connections and memories from my own life and incorporate new thoughts or even fictional realities to better suit a role or commitment to character. This was all incredibly beneficial. I learned of the Alexander technique, method acting, and my favorite; association. I remember working with you during summer theatre in Manchester and discussing this technique and how, at least for me, it seemed to work best. Everyone within this field needs or requires a different process. I looked at the website to better understand the techniques you’ve learned and respect the approach greatly. Obviously Mr. Geis has been accomplished on stage and most likely has something to offer theatrically for your future career. The most interesting method of his teaching I read was to “Be Yourself”. I couldn’t agree more. One of the greatest acting tools I learned was that after taking in everything, in respect to methodology, the best thing I could do was forget it all and act naturally. Once certain theories are understood, they should work habitually through the subconscious. Hopefully, within all of the three years you’ve been involved with this, you’ve been able to remain who you who are, which by the way, brings me to one of my favorite memories of you; you. Through countless plays, evenings, and time spent together, when I think of you, I beam. I get a warmness inside that reminds me how wonderful and appreciative I am to have experienced your friendship. I’ve always respected your thoughts, your dreams, and most importantly, the charismatic thoughtfulness you so effortlessly showed me. I still have the drawing of the rose you gave me in high school. Sometimes, not always, but sometimes, I need to remember that time of my life and whenever I flip to the page with your drawing I get that warmness again. So hopefully, I beg, I plead, that you’re still “be[ing] “yourself” like your instructor has advised and advocated. One of the most difficult experiences I went through was being able to acknowledge the educational process has ended and to recognize it was time to take what I learned and apply it to my daily life on my own. I will always respect and appreciate the good and bad my instructors exposed me to. However, after the years involved, I recognized that if I remained within the clutches of education I would never have felt accomplished. I had to go. Always keeping what I had learned with me in my heart, soul, and drive, I needed to return to home and take the next step on my own terms without the guidance of faculty, but rather, my upbringings. Although it pained me, I had to get a job at a newspaper –and not as a writer. I wanted the stability of a paycheck and the ability to survive on my own. The dependence my educational surroundings provided for me tainted reality. A side note; I remember always seeing you wear the USA Olympic jacket. You were so proud of what that jacket stood for. I always felt it stood for a team of people who, without question, had to initially given up a great deal of their past to train in order to achieve greatness. But also, more important than the medals and great athletic ability is the recognition of family and friends. The athletes who compete in the Olympics do at times need separation for training. But in order to stay centered and aware of whom they truly are, need and want to return home. Family and friends are what keep me alive. Even though I am no longer in school or taking part of any training, I still posses the knowledge and great learning’s of my teachers; I always will. But after all the training and teaching that I was blessed to be experienced by, I had to move on. No matter how difficult it was and comfortable I had become within my learning environment, I had to move on. I returned to my family, I reconnected with my friends and now am able to apply my much appreciated and respected learning’s within daily life. I love to be able to soak in new experiences thanks to the methods developed within my education. My writing has exploded with so much more experience and awakening of how to control my inner vulnerabilities. All this said, would I have been able to predict this outcome had you asked me while I was with my instructors? No. But hearing of where you are in your life I see myself four years ago and suggest to you that perhaps it’s time to “Be Yourself” again and take with you your experience and apply it to the next step. I want to hear from you terribly.
Be Yourself. I always appreciated that about you. -Jason |
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