Or, to paraphrase the line from the Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry movie Magnum Force, "an artist's got to know his limitations." This past weekend, I did two back-to-back shows. Setup and teardown on Saturday, setup and teardown on Sunday.
Setting up and tearing down one show in a weekend is bad enough. Doing it twice in the same weekend, well, if I even hint at ever doing it again, please lock me up!
For a shy artist, doing a show is exhausting. And, not just physically exhausting. Our shyness makes dealing with people emotionally draining. When I get home at the end of a show weekend all I want is peace and quiet. (And a hot shower!)
Knowing your limitations can really help you to pace yourself so that your show experience is not as tiring. I know I'm not in the best physical condition and that I never should have signed up to do two shows in one weekend.
Back in my younger, healthier days it was easy to deal with the physical demands of doing a show. But, I was much more shy and lacking in people skills so shows were very emotionally demanding for me. Today, through the skills I am learning, this has reversed.
So, what can we do to lessen the exhaustion factors? Well, the answer is to get yourself in shape, both mentally and physically. I have been exercising my people skills, but not my muscles and it was really obvious when I was loading my car on Sunday night. (I definitely need to do more aerobics and weight training.)
I hope that you're in better physical shape than I am so you only need to work on your emotional muscles. Now, how do you exercise those emotional muscles? The same way you exercise your body: progressively increasing repetitions.
If, for example, your limitation is that you have trouble making eye contact, then practice making eye contact. Just a little bit every day, consciously work on that skill. Write it down on a post-it note and stick it to your bathroom mirror so you see it every morning. "I will make eye contact with one person today." After a few days of practice, up the repetitions: "I will make eye contact with two people today." Keep repeating until this skill becomes a habit that you no longer have to consciously think about.
Then just keep repeating the process for the next emotional muscle you want to train. Pretty soon, your limitations, like those excess pounds, will just melt away!
For a shy artist, doing a show is exhausting. And, not just physically exhausting. Our shyness makes dealing with people emotionally draining. When I get home at the end of a show weekend all I want is peace and quiet. (And a hot shower!)
Knowing your limitations can really help you to pace yourself so that your show experience is not as tiring. I know I'm not in the best physical condition and that I never should have signed up to do two shows in one weekend.
Back in my younger, healthier days it was easy to deal with the physical demands of doing a show. But, I was much more shy and lacking in people skills so shows were very emotionally demanding for me. Today, through the skills I am learning, this has reversed.
So, what can we do to lessen the exhaustion factors? Well, the answer is to get yourself in shape, both mentally and physically. I have been exercising my people skills, but not my muscles and it was really obvious when I was loading my car on Sunday night. (I definitely need to do more aerobics and weight training.)
I hope that you're in better physical shape than I am so you only need to work on your emotional muscles. Now, how do you exercise those emotional muscles? The same way you exercise your body: progressively increasing repetitions.
If, for example, your limitation is that you have trouble making eye contact, then practice making eye contact. Just a little bit every day, consciously work on that skill. Write it down on a post-it note and stick it to your bathroom mirror so you see it every morning. "I will make eye contact with one person today." After a few days of practice, up the repetitions: "I will make eye contact with two people today." Keep repeating until this skill becomes a habit that you no longer have to consciously think about.
Then just keep repeating the process for the next emotional muscle you want to train. Pretty soon, your limitations, like those excess pounds, will just melt away!
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