it all comes down to respect
Happy Hump Day! On Monday, I wrote a post called “to thine own self be true,” which was about a really fun scene from last week’s Garage Band practice in which I played a character that was very true to who I am as a person. I promised that I would be writing about some of the experiences I had on set last week for today’s post, so I just want to highlight the most important thing I witnessed on set last week: respect.
Film and television sets are a melting pot of all different types of people. I had the pleasure of working on three separate television sets last week: Scoripon on Wednesday, Young Sheldon on Thursday, and The Mindy Project on Friday. Each day was composed of a different makeup of people with all different backgrounds and life experiences, yet we all shared in a common goal that brought us together.
Perhaps the most interesting day of all, however, was on set on Friday. A lot of this business is “hurry up and wait,” and Friday's set experience was no different. And in a lot of ways, I’m glad it wasn’t any different. Those of us hanging out in holding spent a lot of the day getting to know each other, contributing to each other’s creative projects, and engaging in many different debates and conversations on a wide range of topics.
Do you like to assess a situation before you get involved? I tend to be more of an observer than a contributor in a lot of social settings, especially when it comes to new groups of people. I like to hang out on the outskirts until I feel comfortable and have gauged the temperaments of different people in the room. What was so great about being on set on Friday was that although there were many people who held conflicting views, they still treated each other with respect. They were willing to listen to each other’s thoughts and opinions and to try to understand why someone felt the way she did on a given topic. It felt like no topic was really off-limits, and although I mostly observed, I felt comfortable enough to contribute when I wanted to and to not contribute when I didn’t.
Don’t you love when you see people from all different walks of life coming together, listening to each other, and respectfully agreeing or disagreeing? The different discussions and scenes that took place over the course of the day felt like they could have been part of their own scripted dramedy, which is something that is still pretty cool on which to reflect.
Everything in life comes down to respect. In relationships, you respect others’ perceptions and boundaries; in jobs, you respect other people’s time and efforts for a common goal; in acting, you respect the process and you do the work to get better; but most importantly, you respect yourself. It’s important to love yourself, yes, but you can’t do that if you don’t respect yourself. And once you respect yourself, being able to respect others is a piece of cake. Don’t believe me? Just ask the older man and older woman on set who had polar opposite opinions about the presidency and yet became very close friends by the end of the day.
Respect yourself. Respect others. Treat others the way you want to be treated, and do the work. If you have big dreams and goals in life, you have to respect the process and work it takes to achieve those goals. It all comes down to respect.
Sort of a roundabout way to talk about staying true to yourself and your values while doing comedy, huh? Well check back in Wednesday when I’ll be writing about my experiences on set last week! Thank you so much for reading, and, as always, if you have any pressing questions or if you want to discuss something further with me, feel free to subscribe below or reach out to me on the “contact” page. I’m so grateful you're here and that I’ve been getting a lot of really challenging questions and even better feedback from a community all over the world. I couldn’t do this without you! So THANK YOU! I’m here for you, and I love hearing from you, too! You’re the best, and you have everything you need inside of you! Please believe it! Starve your ego, feed your soul - and follow your heart!