Looking back on 2014 :)

This year I am going to do something different than previous years, and just take the day to look back on all that I have accomplished this year. Tomorrow I will be back with a vengeance to share my 2015 resolutions, but for today…2014 was a pretty awesome year 😉

As you can see, I will need a new paper to remind myself of my accomplishments come next year. I have been sitting here the past few weeks, trying to come up with resolutions for next year while feeling totally defeated about all of the things I didn’t get to this year, but making that list, it made me realize that I did do so many things that weren’t on my list as well. If you look at what you haven’t accomplished, you will obviously fall short or your expectations, but if you compare where you are now to where you were just a year ago, you will see how far you have come. Like this year, I went on 29 auditions, compared to last year’s 14. That is more than double. And as far as my booking rate, those auditions led me to film 5 things this year, with at least 3 projects in the new years, and a few that either didn’t get made after I got the part, or that I had to turn down. I think this has been happening to me every year since I started keeping track of my accomplishments, but it takes doing this to remind me that I am on the right path, always moving forward. And it’s the journey that counts anyway, right?

Like every year, there are some resolutions I did not get to. When this happens, you have to consider why you are putting them off, and whether they should be added to next year’s list, or removed completely. I think a big problem of mine is that I put things down that are completely out of my control, as well as big scary projects that I only have vague ideas on how to accomplish. But, here is how I have made out for my 2014 resolutions:

-Make my demo reel 🙂

This was done way at the beginning of the year, so long ago that I now need to update it. Just waiting to get some footage 😉

-Become an ACTRA member

This one is halfway done, because I have the part that will get me into ACTRA, I just need to wait until we go into production so that I can file the paperwork. We are supposed to be filming in May, so it shouldn’t be too long until my main excuse for not having an agent and auditions will be gone, and I will be forced to step up my game 😉

-Finish writing a book 🙂

This one has been on my list of resolutions every year since I started making resolutions. Which was probably around the year 2000. I always jumped from story to story, convincing myself that writing 500 pages in different stories was almost the same as writing a book. Well, this year I did NANOWRIMO and although it is not a 500 page book, I am done writing it. I still have editing to do, as well as deciding whether or not I want to send it out to publishers and stuff, but for now, I am going to bask in the glory of having written a book, and look forward to being able to read it all next year 😉

-Film my movie

This is the big one that scares me. I have a million excuses why it hasn’t been done, but no legitimate reason. I have a script for an incredibly short short, and I will hopefully get the courage to get it done next year.

-Get an agent

I am convinced that becoming a member of ACTRA will help a lot for this one, but since it is possible that union status has nothing to do with it, I am revamping my package in the new year. I have been an SMFA Ninja for the past 11 days, getting advice from Bonnie Gillespie on how to take care of my career and such. I have gotten feedback on my headshot, started reworking my CV to be on-brand and a million other things. I would also love to go back to LA to get some more headshots. For now, this is still a goal, and I am not just wallowing in my defeat, I am excited about trying again 😉

-Do Tough Mudder 🙂

I am officially one Tough Mudder. Walking was a task for the few days after, and I was black and blue, but for a girl who dreaded gym class and was never very athletic, I will savor this victory for a long time to come 😉

-Complete Insanity

I have done a lot of cool workouts this year, including the 30 day challenge, and we are planning a new one starting January. Perhaps I should have given myself a more general goal of working out every day, or getting in shape, because I am much closer to achieving those 😉

-Get a paid (But not as an extra) acting job 🙂

This one has been crossed off since last February, for Semiotics of a Lost Place. Can’t wait to see how it turned out 😉

-Acquire 3 new skills 🙂

A few weeks ago I was looking at this one, convinced I had failed because I didn’t complete concrete classes that teach a skill you can put on a CV. But at the same time, I have definitley aquired some pretty interesting knowledge. I had my first ADR session, I threw a spear, I hula danced, I climbed a tree, I hiked, I paddleboarded, I jogged 5k, I made a lei. These maybe weren’t what I had in mind when I wrote down the goal, but I think I definitely learnt some skills.

-Volunteer/ Donate every month 🙂

This was a personal goal that I wanted to do. I had been hoping to donate more time than money, but I did get to squeeze in a few walks and volunteering at the Becket Players show last spring. Most of my donations, however, were of the money variety, unless you count every unpaid student or indie project I was on as volunteering 😉

-Read a book/novel every month 😉

I love curling up with a nice tea and a good book 😉

-Do something that scares me every month 🙂

Every month, I did do something that I was afraid of and reluctant to do. I auditioned for people I sort of knew and was intimidated by. I swam in a cage with sharks. I did an audition with British and Australia accents, as well as one in french. I was a horribly mean person for one of my cases at McGill. I went to networking events by myself. I did Tough Mudder and the Color Run. I auditioned and signed on to a play. I wrote a book. 😉

That is only 4 that weren’t done out of 12 resolutions, and I am sure that if you check in on me in a few months, I will have remedied that situation 😉

As for my 25 things to do before I turn 25, I am slowly getting there, and determined to spent the next 3 months working on getting them all done. In addition to what I had last time I went through the list;

-my newly formatted resume will not have any high school or CEGEP credits on it, meaning everything will be more recent than that, as well as on brand 😉

-Yesterday I reached the goal weight I have been putting in my new year’s resolutions for the past 7 years 🙂

-I wrote a book 🙂

-I was an extra on Reign, a few times 🙂

– I completed Tough Mudder 😉

-I visited Hawaii, which is a place I had never been before, and the culture and lanscape truly make you feel like you are in a completely different country.

That is 6 more crossed off the list, and only 9 more left. Having just a little over 3 months to get it all done might be a little scary, but today is for recognizing how awesome I have been this past year, not stressing about what has yet to be done!

In addition to the things above, I also spent time with family, made new friends, put acting roots in a different city, even auditioned there, was in a movie that won at the Body Horror Contest, completed the Dale Carnegie course, performed a monologue for an audition, was offered a role in a feature film without even auditioning, got my own business cards, auditioned at a real casting agency and won the room even though the project fell through, caught the bouquet at a wedding and I can even be seen on Costco’s website.