4 Things In Praise of Obsession

I have taught hundreds and hundreds of actors.  Well, most were actors, some were not but I taught them.  Some succeeded, some didn't and some are still learning and trying to work but the ones who succeeded seem to have one thing in common - Obsession.   Live, work, breathe V.O., imitate, mimic, create, rinse and repeat.

Last night I recorded the first "The Voice Over Show" pod cast. My guests were two very talented actors with lots of experience and plenty of "obsession" for their work.  Both of them talked about their love for what they do, how the visceral and mind blowing effect of animation early in their lives shaped them as well as day to day voices in the public realm that make them excited and form their own choices.

I have mentioned in my blogs before, my obsession with playing the guitar and singing when I was 12 or 13 years old.  Bleeding fingers, howling neighbors…all of it forming my life as a musician.  So, it is the question I often ask artists of all kinds, "were you obsessed?"  Most say..…absolutely!  I am frequently presented with parents who tell me their children don't want to practice or go to dance class or memorize their lines.  My reply is "then let them go play" I mean, really?  If you're kid does not have any interest in something, why are you forcing your agenda on them? OK, I'm not going any further into that.

Obsession: an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person's mind.

plural noun: obsessions"he was in the grip of an obsession he was powerless to resist"

synonyms:

fixation, ruling/consuming passion, passion, mania, idée fixe, compulsion, preoccupation, infatuation, addiction, fetish, craze, hobbyhorse;   phobia, complex, neurosis;  informal bee in one's bonnet,hang-up, thing  Well, this all sounds normal to me.  So, here are the 4 things I appreciate in an obsession!

1. A healthy, creative mind.  The ideas that flow and then become organized, the daydreaming about what could be, these are the things I love the most.  I actually believed I could do it and was excited every minute about it.  I thought up ways to create sounds and listened to records over and over - needle drop…play it again…needle drop, play it again until I figured out exactly how "They" did that! 

2. Something new.  Nothing makes my inner light, my soul soar, my very being get warm, hot and/or icy like music.  Hearing something new and pleasing, something I can't quite grasp yet, something that stirs s#%t up in me is the most fun ever.  If I've experienced what a lyric says or never heard a groove quite like it or just never heard that singer before it can trigger a loop in my mind that won't stop until I've exhausted that damn thing! reference my blog "What You Don't Get Doesn't Matter" and Ryan Adams.

3. The absolute NEED to do it.  Simply put, I will do nothing else fully until I can do that again.

4. The actual knowing it is good. When I finally realized I had created something good for the first time….there was nothing else on the planet for that moment.  It sent me down the road to the next one and the next, never stopping and always knowing it was good to love something this much.  i.e.: Transistor radio under the pillow, falling asleep with the headphones on.

Well, once again…I talked about myself too much.  Without all of the fantastic stimuli and friends in my life, I wouldn't learn a thing or last a day.  What are you obsessed with?

LA