BWW Blog: Sarah Osman - Performers and Our Fragile Dreams: Surround Yourself With Support

The people you surround yourself with have a great effect on what you do, how you act, and who you are. As performers and people who have an interest in the entertainment world, we have big dreams and many critics. And of course, being in high school and trying to figure it all out doesn't help either.

This year hit me hard. It's my junior year of high school and before I know it, I'll be a graduating senior.

I was friends with a lot of seniors last year (when I was a sophomore) and I really looked up to them for inspiration and advice. They were a really great group of people who genuinely enjoyed acting and performing and I admired them so much because of that. They were my support team and kept pushing me to do better and take chances. I truly believe that because of them, I became a better and more confident performer and person.

I continue to have a wonderful group of friends I surround myself with everyday, but I still think about the senior actors that graduated last year. Now that they're all scattered about- whether they be in conservatories, colleges, or exploring the world- I realize how important it is to have a good team of people around you.

We are actors. We have emotions. We have feelings. We have dreams.

Our dreams are fragile and we cannot have negativity destroy them, and ourselves.

As already vulnerable people, I believe we have to surround ourselves with a positive and supportive team. And by that, I don't mean "yes" people. Because, that too, can lead to teardown. What I mean is: we have to have friends and a community of people who push us to do better. We have to be inspired by the people around us. We also have to have people who are realistic as well, to keep us in line. It has to be a balance.

Being surrounded by negative people who crush your optimism is horrible. There is a difference between being realistic and being negative. For example: when I am surrounded by realistic people, they help me as an actor- keeping me focused, allowing me to grow and learn from my mistakes, and plan to reach my goals. When I am surrounded by negative people, I can't help but feel trapped. Negative people make me feel like my path is clouded and push away my excitement and ambition.

Personally, I am an emotional person and I find my mood changing depending on who I am surrounded by. Although I enjoy sarcastic banter and self-deprecating humor, I cannot stand negativity. Because I know that, for me and as an actor, negativity can destroy you.

Actors already have to deal with rejection, internal satisfaction, and the fear of their future. Having a negative community can be detrimental to an actor. Actors are already constantly judged; because our goals and aspirations are deemed "too big", so we can't have people pestering our thoughts with pessimistic attitudes, causing us to be gloomy.

We need to surround ourselves with motivating people. We need to inspire others. We need to stay positive.

-Sarah Osman

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