Once again we’re exploring a letter I wrote a few years ago to Young Actor Amy who had just arrive in LA. This is A Letter to Young Actor Amy: Part 4 and our topic today is Create, Because No One Cares. Technically we’re combining two topics from my letter, but they go hand-in-hand, so this is perfect.

Let’s read what I wrote to myself back then and see how this all holds up today.

Create!

Don’t wait for permission or perfection to create stuff and put it out into the world. Just do it! Lean into your inspirations and follow them full out. Play, explore, throw stuff up online, and again, rinse and repeat. Some of it might be crap, or maybe only a handful of people will ever see it, but what you will learn in the process will be invaluable. Oh, and fun. Tons of fun!

Rolling right into the second bit of advice…

No one cares.

If you think someone is judging you, chances are good you’re really just projecting your own self-judgement onto them. Abandon judgment altogether and remember that while you’re busy worrying about “what they think” they are probably just as worried about “what YOU think” and you’re both so caught up in this stupid game of self-obsession that no one has stopped to realize, ta-da, no one cares what anyone else is doing! Or maybe we all care, but only in the “oh that’s cool!” sense rather than the “why would you do that?!” sense. Does that make sense? I hope it does, because reminding myself of this fact on a regular basis is freeing.

Surprise, surprise, I still love both of these pieces of advice that I wrote to myself. And I have some updated reflections to share on each of these points and how they fit together very nicely.

Let’s start with Create!

The reason that I encourage myself and all actors to create — content, funny reels, visual art, crafts, join a choir, start an improv team, etc — is that we need to be feeding our creative souls.

For many years, I created a comedy web series called, SchloerBITS. It was the ultimate DIY “one woman show.” I literally did everything myself — writing, filming, editing. It didn’t get many views, but it won some festival awards, got me a few acting jobs, and I learned a ton about the creative process, which really helped my overall mindset as an actor.

The absolute best part was that it fed my creative soul. Instead of sitting around waiting for someone to cast me, I cast myself in funny roles and scenarios I wanted to explore. I got to express my creativity through writing, filming, acting, and even editing, which was a whole new creative challenge that I really enjoyed. Looking back on the series, I’m still really proud of my work as both an actress and a DIY filmmaker.

My one rule was to make myself laugh. If I found an idea funny, hopefully the audience would also find it funny. And if they didn’t, at least I had fun and was brave enough to put my work out into the world anyway.

Which is a great segue into the second half of today’s advice — No One Cares.

Sharing your creative endeavors with the world is vulnerable and scary AF. There were plenty of times on SchloerBITS that I worried that people would be critical of my work. “Oh, here’s Amy and her BITS again. Does she really think she’s funny? These are embarrassing.”

When my comments weren’t flooded with haters and trolls, I started to lean into the idea that people really just didn’t care one way or the other what I was doing — certainly not enough to take the time to throw shade my way. In fact, despite all my worries and fears — “What will they think?” — most comments were incredibly supportive.

Additionally, whenever I have caught myself thinking, “Who do they think they are, all proud of their short film or web series or funny viral video?” most of the time it’s my own jealousy speaking. I want to be doing what they are doing, but it’s up to me — not them — to recognize that and adjust my actions accordingly.

If someone slides into your DMs (are we still saying that?) or leaves a nasty comment on your post, that’s likely a them issue. If witnessing your creativity triggers something within them, that is not your fault or your problem. Let it go and keep creating! Maybe you’ll end up inspiring them to do the same.

So create things, have fun, be yourself, live your life, don’t worry what others will think, and let others do the same!

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