Acting is a lot like dreaming. Actually, it’s almost entirely dreaming…Dreaming and believing. Yes, of course there are all of the tricks and fine details to acting that young thespians strive to perfect, though the base lies simply inside ones self. Most commonly, a child.
Children are amazing minds, so simple yet so willing. Sometimes I feel that they understand more of life then most “wiser” people do. What do they have to do with acting, though? Who is it that sits up late every December 24th, aching for a peek of velvet red suit and long white beard, or the click clack of wondrous, flying creatures upon their roof tops? Who is it that grasp onto every word of a story book, and relay the story a thousand times after being told, unwilling to let the magic slip away? Who is it that routinely checks under their beds and in their closets for the big unknown, but that they hear whisper at night? And who is it that grasps their toys tight and whispers to them their secretes, knowing that they won’t be repeated but are closely being heard? Children. They are children that seek out wonder and magic in the world. They crack open it’s hard shell because they can hear inside, the glimmer of fantastical dreams. They not only can see these dreams, many people see them, but they have the faith to believe in them. Children truly are amazing in this sense, though you were a child once too. You believed just as strongly, didn’t you?
When I was younger my dad would tell my brothers and I fantastical tales, one that stuck to my mind was from a book called, “Puff the Magic Dragon.” I don’t remember this story because it was a favorite, no. This story, I hated. I hated this story because the ending wasn’t right. The story goes that a young girl, found a dragon in a cave by the sea shore named, Puff. They played and laughed and loved, and were happy. Though as years pasted, the little girl stopped coming to visit Puff. She grew older and didn’t see him anymore. I believe the girl comes back with her own children later, and they too love Puff. However, this wasn’t right, in my mind. As I heard the tale told time and time again, I desperately wished for Puff and the little girl to stay together. I begged and pleaded and it tore me apart every time upon hearing the tragedy, as I knew what was to come. The little girl disgusted me, and I grew to despise her. She was the reason why Puff was sad, so broken and alone. She was the one that stopped coming, that stopped laughing and loving Puff. The one who stopped believing. At the time I wasn’t quite sure why the story upset me so, besides the somber illustrated picture of a teary eyed Puff beneath the text. Though now I see, I didn’t want to believe that my dreams weren’t true. No child does, it’s a growing pain that I think we all faced. We learned that Santa Claus wasn’t there every Christmas Eve, that reindeer can’t fly, and that the little girl doesn’t always believe. Next we start to realize that life isn’t as simple as side walk chalk and fruit punch. We are struck with the facts that life doesn’t always have a “happily ever after” to offer, and that people aren’t always nice and the bad guys aren’t walking around in all black with their evil henchmen. All of those precious dreams are beaten down year by year, until finally we have “grown up.” Though, deep inside, I like to think that we all have a small ember left of dreams that used to be. Why else do we all flock to magic shows, or click the T.V. channel back a station when “myths uncovered” is on? Why is it that people cry in movie theatres, or in soft reading nooks engulfed in a fantasy novel? Or that when no one is looking, you still wish on that bright star in the deep sky. These things spark a light inside, that slowly will begin to roar if we allow them to. Just as children are born with this roaring fire of dreams.
How does any of this have to do with acting, this blog or myself? Here’s precisely how… I am not a fantastic actress, not by any means is that what I’m trying to say. I do, however, see something in these actors, actress, and thespians that I adore- something that I see in myself. Past the skill that these people carry, I see dreams. Chests FULL of dreams, bursting to be set free into a world of willing minds. More importantly though, then even the dreams, is a heart etched upon it “believe.” These people reach into themselves the dreams that we all carry. Sometimes yes, they are hard to see around the struggles of the world, but they are most definitely there. Actors are like the keepers of dreams. Through out all of their years, they were the stubborn ones to fight back from getting their dreams crushed. Maybe life around them caved in and was warped, but they had those eyes. Those deep wonder eyes that carry you into a soul full of dreams and a strong belief. They held onto that magic, and then give it back. They dream up worlds unknown, lives, and characters then bring them to life in front of our eyes. They form their dreams, then look upon us with wondrous eyes, then it’s up to us to believe.
So, I am Esther…A young girl, aspiring singer, and a learning actress. I am a dreamer and a hopeless believer. In this blog, I want to share that world of dreams (or at least a peek into my head full of music and ideas all meshed into a beautifully horrid mess) , maybe not shown the same way an actor can, but the best way I know how. Dreams are all around and inside of us in this wondrous world, but its up to you to believe in them. Will you?
