Beating the “Slump.”

It’s been awhile! I know! I’ll explain…

Our show went up – my duties in the process went from back-end producer and actor to: actor, executive producer, stage manager, treasurer.

I was running on adrenaline for a good two months, working full force on the show, the company, and my own j.o.b.

To be clear: I AM NOT COMPLAINING. From the day the show opened, until the day it closed, I was happier than ever. I was in heaven. Yes it had been a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get there, but man, was it so so worth it.

And then suddenly, Sunday night, the show is loaded out, the wrap party is over, and it’s time for bed.

Monday morning? Phew. I couldn’t move. I slept for 12 hours. This continued for over a week. I could barely get to the gym or clean my apartment. I was lucky to get to work every day. Complete and total exhaustion. Been there? Know the feeling? It took about 2 full weeks to feel totally back on track again.

And then I realized, somewhere in there I had gone from actual stress-induced exhaustion to the dreaded after-show-slump. What had been occupying almost every moment of my waking state for the last 8 weeks – memorizing lines, going over blocking, working on through line, sharing energy with beautiful actors on stage, telling the story, etc etc etc – was just gone. I had nothing to focus my energy on so no reason to really get that energy back up.

How can you cut down on this syndrome? How can you get right back on the horse after a gig? (Managing daily stress is for another post.) –>

Focus on another personal-passion to give you something new to “latch on” to – preferably something that is a personal pursuit and not dependent on someone else’s green light.

Now, this could be anything you’re passionate about. Maybe you have a list of books that your friends have told you to read, maybe you’ve always wanted to write a play or you paint or you photograph – or have always wanted to. It’s a perfect time to recenter yourself and ground yourself in art and satisfy that withdrawal, and hey, maybe it’ll gain a little traction and turn into your next big project.