Hi, my name is Sam and I am a serial “do-er of things”. ⁠Aka- Addicted to accomplishment.

⁠[Hi Sam.] 🙋🏻‍♀️⁠

What do I mean by this? I check off tasks daily, I get things done for fulfillment, and I am super reliable on a timeline. HOWEVER. ⁠This also means I am very bad at *not* doing things. Turning off my brain and taking quiet time to just be feels very out of my wheelhouse. ⁠

The thing is, accomplishment is praised in our society. Being “busy” is epically rewarded, either in affirmations, putting people on pedestals, or aspiring to “be”. How many times have you heard/said. “oh yea she’s amazing, I swear she doesn’t even sleep! Her hustle is so real!”

Yet when was the last time you heard, “man, she’s great, she naps a lot and stops working at 5 pm, what a badass”…cause probably never.

I am one of the former…I want to be the latter. I feel the constant need to be doing things, and I think this is especially prevalent in our acting world. Why? Because we are rewarded and praised for being so damn busy AND we get very little validation in our work, if we can potentially get some for working so hard, then we do it! Plus we have been told time and time again that the hustler wins in our world. Boo.

And with all the hustle, we all know this year’s most popular phrase is not far behind: burnout. Everyone and their mom has hit a wall in the last six months in some capacity. I personally felt so overwhelmed I booked out at the beginning of May and went to a cabin in Big Bear with only my dog Willow and a bag of cozy clothes. That trip was amazing and reconnecting to being with myself and being alone was priceless (btw if you want a cheap Air Bnb, booking Sunday to Tuesday is so great haha) but is there a way we can skip the burnout??

Actors have been told to be ON for pilot season from January to April, then indie movie time from May to July, episodics ramp up from August to November, and then we need to get in last-minute work/gifts/life before the holidays, oh and get some rest cause pilot season is coming!!

GUYS. If we don’t make our own time in these cycles (whether you’re booking or not) you will collapse from sheer trying-all-the-time-ness. Trust me, I know first hand.

So allow me to give you permission to book out. From acting, from work, from cleaning the house. Even if it’s just for one day and you don’t intend to leave your house. Even if it’s a Sunday and you technically have the time off work already. Book out anyway. Take the time to turn off your phone. Crack a book. Don’t wear a watch. Get a little lost. Whatever you need. Be the one who naps. I will give you validation.

I personally am currently in the middle of the woods with some of my lifelong friends, trying to stay off social media and just be in the moment (and yes, I wrote this before I left). I prepped a bit of work before I left but I intend to not check on a single thing while I am gone. Does this mean I am about to lose out on work, jobs, bookings, and opportunities? Eh…I’d prefer to extend my time in this career by another few enjoyable years instead of learning the answer to that short-sighted question.