Student Blog: Just Keep Moving On

Last month I wrote about the physical and mental burnout that I’ve experienced as a theatre student, but one area that I neglected to touch on was artistic burnout. As an artist of any kind, it’s easy to assume that creativity and the energy to engage with your art is always there, but just as authors experience writer’s block, actors experience….acting block? Blocking block? Whatever you want to call it, the experience of encountering a lack of motivation, increases in stress, and a dread for the thing you’re supposed to love is something I’m sure most theatre students can relate to. Whether it’s from rejection over auditions, boredom with your classes, or a show you just can’t stand, once you slip into this stage of burnout, it’s hard to pull yourself back out. 

As a freshman in a BFA Acting program, I experienced a ton of artistic burnout during my first semester. I was entering a new program and essentially starting back at the bottom of the totem pole. I went from getting lead roles and getting to have my hands in every aspect of a show to not being involved in anything. What started out as a “cool your heels” moment quickly turned into months of dreading doing anything involving theatre. I felt like I wasn’t able to do what I wanted to be doing, or at least what I was used to doing. In short, I’d forgotten why I love theatre so much. 

I think there’s a level to which this artistic burnout is tied to the pressure of the theatre industry as a whole. It’s easy to feel like you’re not succeeding if you’re not in a lead role or heading up a tech crew, but it’s important to remember that any experience you’re having lends itself to growth. During my first semester, I had to remind myself that I was entering a new stage in my theatre journey, one that was pushing me out of my comfort zone by exposing me to a side of my passion that I didn’t necessarily like. However, what this realization allowed me to do was to reconsider my stage of stagnation as one of growth. Even though I wasn’t in a show, I was still pursuing theatre, just in a different way than I was used to. 

Reminding yourself that any point in your journey is valuable, regardless of what you’re doing at the moment is key in emerging from artistic burnout. When I realized this, I began to approach my classes and work with a new perspective. I started looking for ways to make the most of my situation and to use my initial discomfort as motivation to invest deeper in the opportunities I was being given. I came to realize that I was so worried about not doing anything new in the way I’d come to expect that I was losing sight of the fact that I was already in the middle of a new part of my acting career. As such, for anyone struggling with artistic burnout, I can only recommend that you keep moving on, keep moving forward, and embrace wherever you are in your journey as a stepping stone for growth.