Permission "To Be" Is Permission "To Become"

Permission is the doorway in

As I have studied actors over many years, it’s fascinating how often they express a need for permission… permission to go deep into the artform or to even enter it at all.

Beginning or advanced, it doesn’t matter, the need for permission can consume the actor keeping them from their best work.

Getting permission, or not, tends to be experienced with an authority figure and becomes internalized. If permission is withheld, it might feel like a closed door that we stand behind, waiting for someone to open it and allow us in.

Is there a door you want permission to enter?

Freedom… Self-possession… Possibility… When you have permission there is no judgement or rejection, no criticism or shame, no boundary to what you can discover.

I was observing an acting workshop recently. An actor finished her scene and hung her head waving her arms in front of her face pleading, “Don’t look at me, I don’t know… what should I do?”

The coach commanded, “Sit down.” She obediently sat. “Sit up straight and look out here.” She obeyed. “Breath…” She did. It seemed the more the coach ordered her the smaller she became and the further she retreated.

When we doubt our own authority and give it to another, we can lose connection with who we are in a moment. We become divided from what we actually know. It is an energy drain… life drain…

What if you gave yourself permission to commit to all of who you are?

There is an acting exercise—it works with imagination. Indulge with me for a few minutes… and imagine…

You are on a walkway (see it) and come to a door (see the door). You turn the nob (put your hands on it) and enter. You stand in the middle of the room and notice many doors. You open one after another and peer in until you come to one that’s locked. You search and find a key. Just as the lock is released you hear a scolding voice, “No! You are not allowed to go in there!” A feeling of shame floods your body as you back away.

You are not permitted to enter even though all the rooms are parts of you. Now, reenter the scene…

You go back and this time turn the key in that locked door and enter even as the voice threatens. When you unlock the door and go into the room you defy that authority. Now, you are inside the room, see who it is you have discovered… look closely.

Permission runs deep. We ask again and again, “May I have more of my life, please… ?”

Using imagination taps into our creative intelligence and unlocks those things that have kept us captive. An actor uses imagination not only to bring every aspect of the play to life… but to open doors and possess or re-possess their potential.

Once we are reacting to the scolding, once we feel the shame and self-doubt, we have left our house and moved into someone else’s. But when we confront that rogue authority and overcome it, like all successful experiences, we have given ourselves permission to fully launch. We can give ourselves permission every day, every rehearsal, every performance… and find we can handle our own tough moments as we equally celebrate our accomplishments.

Open the door to Acting Mastery and become your own authority.