I think a variety of things motivate me, but in the grand scheme of things, I mostly am my own motivator. I want good grades. I wanted them in high school because I knew I wanted to be accepted into a good college. I want them now because it would be really really terrific to keep my scholarship (that’s an awesome motivator right there). But, I also want them because I know I can get them, that I have the capability of succeeding in school. Yes, I want to be a good actor. I want to be a good actor in order to get work, in order for others to respect me, to want to work with me, and for people to simply enjoy my performances. I want to be a good actor because it makes me feel good when I act well. I feel satisfied with my work. Throughout all of these different instances of motivation though, the fact that I know I can do something and do it well is what truly motivates me. Sometimes, granted, it’s not quite enough—I can half-ass assignments, or not work on my character as much as I should, and I can most definitely procrastinate, BUT, all things considered, my own motivation to do well is what truly makes me go. Those extra motivations certainly help out, though, and give a little extra kick to be sure!

Ideas. It’s hard to say how they form in my mind…I’m interested to read other people’s blogs to hear how their own ideas form because it doesn’t seem to be a very definable topic. I do know that silence allows my brain to think. It’s almost like silence is an invitation for me to think: there are no other distractions and I can just let my mind drift and tangent from one thought to the next. Ideas form in conversation, though, too. Just yesterday morning (they let me know you were gone…oh James Taylor. J), a friend and I discussed religion and spirituality—in the middle of the conversation I had mini epiphanies about my thoughts on the subject. Speaking and writing do that for me, they conduct my jumbled pondering into a fluid line of sense, which lets me build off of that line and on to another; it’s beautiful how much I can discover just by speaking out loud, or writing down my ideas! I actually use this for character work: oftentimes, I journal as my character about other characters, or about my situation, and it helps me uncover so much helpful information.

As for distractions, Facebook, of course, takes the top spot. Number one on the hit list. The FB and I…we have a love-hate relationship, as I’m sure it has with most people; so much more work would get done in this world if Facebook just disappeared. I wonder what the level of productivity difference in our society is from before Facebook was invented to now because I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a drastic change in things. Like how much less sleep students get each night today as opposed to before. But, I gotta say, I do love me some Facebook. For all its negativities, it has some great features, and I’m glad it’s around. It just needs to have strict visitation hours that are significantly less than 24/7.