2024 Q3 - A Vow & a Gift
4-6 minute read / 5:16 min listen
I’m composing this newsletter post on my birthday!
I don’t celebrate my birthday. Not out of reluctance sharing my real age (42!) but because — and this may be shocking to learn about me — I absolutely hate the attention!
I know!!! The picture for this post is even my new headshots! Please look and appreciate! I’m sending so many mixed signals, aaahh! But hear me out:
I make a living connecting to people, calling upon my nervous system to make real emotions so I can perform characters and stories that feel authentic and real. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love my work! Yet, I think because so much of it is… my work… I need a lot of intentionality and boundaries for myself when it comes to connecting with people in everyday life. I’ve always been very introverted: at my happiest in low-stimulus environments with only myself for company. But I of course still love and appreciate connection to others. Just… on my own terms.
So, on my birthday, with the flooding of my inbox, phone, notifications, etc. with “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” — to me, feels less like a celebration and more like an assault. So I give myself the same annual birthday gift each year: a day of anonymity. (Also why I am publishing this a few days after, LOL.)
I still like to celebrate, of course! That is why I write this newsletter — to celebrate my work and keep myself accountable to myself. Because being self-employed is hard! Being an artist is even harder! Being a performing artist is maybe even hardest! So I think it’s crucial to remind myself every chance I get (as well as a quarterly schedule to be accountable to!) that I’m doing what I am doing because I believe actors are emotional leaders and I want to be the kind of leader I needed as a kid.
All that being said… the humbling lesson I am also continually learning but not [yet!] mastering is intentional time off. Although I do not identify as a “workaholic,” I fear that self-employed creative multihyphenates like myself still become part of that club unwittingly. I’m getting better at listening to my body when there’s signs of burnout. But what I’m still loathe to take action on is scheduling intentional time off. My vow to my 42 year old self is to not wait to feel guilty and wonder why I was procrastinating on something I know that I truly, genuinely, actually do enjoy… and instead move that task to a different time. Move it to a different time AND — and this is the “vow” part: be intentional about the time until then being designed and dedicated to recharging myself.
I hope these birthday thoughts also connect to your day today: for my birthday gift, I’d love for YOU to give yourself something pleasurable, caring, and kind. As small as a nourishing deep breath or as indulgent as a fantastic meal, please savor a moment for yourself.
And now it’s time for the breakdown. Q3 in review:
🎧 Audiobooks 🎧
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News & Awards:
Earphones Award: Toward Eternity
Updated my narration demos!
Updated my headshots!
Releases:
Recorded/Recording:
Trans coming-of-age story
Epistolary Gothic Fantasy
Trans Nonfiction
Trans New Adult
🎙 Voiceover 🎙
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Dubbed a supporting lead in a comedy film
Dubbed a lead in a series
More dubbing!
Thanks for spending time with me and sharing my celebrations again this quarter! Much love!
🖤🤎❤🧡💛💚💙💜 { progress rainbow heart emojis }
Cheers!
Nicky