Three Words

One thing about the acting business is that you’ve always got to be on your feet.

Ready for anything. Able to improvise at the drop of a hat.

Especially during auditions.

This past Saturday I had, probably one of the best auditions of my life. It was for the lead in a TV pilot.

I got the scene two days before and I just rehearsed the crap out of the thing. Knew it cold, frontwards, backwards and sideways. I was going to nail it. I was prepared.

But there was one thing at the audition I wasn’t quite prepared for:

“What are three words that best describe you?”

 

Uuuhh…Three words. Come on, BBB, you’ve been doing this silly little exercise since kindergarten. Just THINK OF SOMETHING.

And I mean, I did. Gracefully. I think I managed to rattle off something like, “I love to have fun.” “I’m a loyal friend.” And “I’m true to who I am.”

Not exactly three words, per se, but then…I’m never really one to be concise. 😉

But I walked away from that audition feeling on top of the world. I really connected with the part and I truly felt like I did my best.

But after reflecting on it some more, that silly little “getting to know you” question really stuck with me. Why was it so hard to think of three words?

And yes, a lot of things went through my mind to say: energetic, outgoing, kind, empathetic, caaaasually witty.

But those just weren’t really hitting it.

Here’s what I was really wrestling with:

To answer that question, I had to first answer this: Who am I, really?

I mean, that’s a pretty deep question when it comes right down to it.

Yes, I was pretty accurate in my answer. But there’s a lot more to me, too.

What I wanted to say was this: I’m a believer. I’m an overcomer. I am strong.

What I wanted to say was that I have gone through some pretty heavy crap in my life and have survived. Come out the other side more resilient and more in tune with who I am.

That I am a mended piece of art — that I have been broken, but have been put back together, and God has made beauty from that brokenness.

I wanted to say that I am complex. Full of thoughts and ideas.

That even though I am cheerful and generally a pretty happy person, that I have seen some dark times. That I have persevered through pain. Despair. Seasons of true destruction of body, mind and spirit. But that I did not succumb to that darkness. I was a fighter and reclaimed my life. My freedom. My soul.

And what I really wanted to say was that I cannot and could not be any of those things without the saving hand of Jesus. That He was and is the one who strengthens me and allows me to be every complexity and nuance and intricacy that is the young woman standing in front of you today.

Fun loving, a good friend and true to myself — sure. I guess you could say that was my “PC” answer. The pageant version.

But there’s more to me than that. A depth the cannot be captured in three little words.

So now, I turn the question to you, and invite you to take a minute to reflect on the person you’ve become as a result of all your yesterdays and trials and triumphs.

Who are you, really?

Let’s celebrate that.