“Truth is the ultimate power. When the truth comes around, all the lies have to run and hide.” – Ice Cube
Have you been toying with the notion of writing a solo show for decades but you can never think of an idea worthy enough of putting your pen to the page?
Is there a little nudge from within encouraging you to write a one person play, but you cannot justify engaging in that much navel-gazing when it feels like the world around us is falling apart day by day?
Do you always get sidetracked by all of your other responsibilities during the only time you had to finally make progress on your solo show script?
If you see yourself in any or all of these examples, then I have a big dose of sobering truth for you.
The reason you haven’t reached your solo show goals is not because you do not have time, talent or important stories to tell.
The reason your solo theatre dreams have not come to fruition is most likely the result of having a cunning liar living in your head rent free.
This prevaricator is like a deceitful DJ who is looping lies on repeat within your mind and you just keep listening to it like it’s a greatest hits album.
In today’s blog, we are going to turn up the volume on the truth by exposing the 3 most insidious lies solo artists tell themselves that stop them from manifesting their one person masterpiece.
Let’s dive into the deception!
“I don’t have a story worth telling.”
The second that your creative intuition blesses you with an idea to write about for your solo show, almost immediately a harsh voice pops in that says that your idea has been done before. It tells you that your story is boring. It convinces you that no one is interested in sitting in a black box theatre listening to you drone on and it convinces you that you are unworthy of taking up that much space and attention.
If you have lived through trauma, the voice tells you that you’re just being a victim by opening up about it. If you have not lived through trauma, then the voice tells you that nothing important has happened to you, so you do not have anything meaningful to share.
This critical voice will stop at nothing to shut you up because as Marianne Williamson famously said in her book A Return To Love…
“It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
I agree wholeheartedly. On the deepest level we know we are worthy, but there are so many layers of lies we must sift through to truly believe it.
So, how do you sift through this level of deceit to gain a true perspective on your worth?
Well, you start by recognizing that you are not alone in buying into this negativity. Sadly, nearly every single solo artist I have ever worked with over the past 20 years has confessed some version of this distorted thinking to me during our coaching sessions.
Next, you begin to embrace the reality that every single human being has a story worth telling and that absolutely includes you.
Think about it this way.
When you attend a support group, a 12-step meeting, or simply sit down for coffee with a friend, the most valuable thing that transpires in any of those scenarios is that people exchange their stories, feel less alone, and learn and grow alongside one another.
Others will see themselves in your story when you are courageous enough to tell it, and this recognition will help them feel more connected to themselves and to humanity.
Now, for the next falsehood we often buy into…
2. “It’s narcissistic to write and perform a solo show.”
It is true that we live in a very self-absorbed society where snapping the perfect selfie and posting a glamorous highlight reel on our social media has become far too important.
By contrast, having the guts to really be introspective, to admit to your faults and mistakes, to convey your highest highs and your lowest lows, this is far from narcissistic. This is an act of major generosity.
In a world where we are pressured to be perfect through diets, filters, botox and unlimited trips to the gym, true solo theatre ameliorates that egoism by presenting an authentic expression of ourselves. Authenticity is complicated. Reality is messy. The truth of who we are is the black, white, and grey that lives within us.
So, yes, if all you want to do is stand in the spotlight and brag for an hour about innumerable impressive things you have achieved, then I would have to admit that is pretty narcissistic. However, if your goal is to be vulnerable and honest about the complexities of who you are and what you have been through, even when it’s not flattering…that is a gift to both you and your audience.
Ok, we have shed light on 2 terrible lies, but we still have one more to reveal.
“I don’t have time to write and perform a solo show.”
Maybe you are a parent or the head of a company. Perhaps you are a caregiver or juggling multiple parttime jobs. You could be in grad school or any number of time consuming roles in life.
Everything I just mentioned is a valid responsibility, and there are a million more commitments I could list that are just as cogent.
But let me ask you something.
Do you eat, sleep, and breathe every day? Do you do some level of physical exertion to keep your body healthy? Do you pray, meditate, chant or partake in some other form of spiritual nourishment?
I hope the answer is yes to all of that.
And if the answer is yes, then I would assume you do all of those things because you want to be physically, mentally and spiritually well.
Each of those items are nonnegotiable for you because all of those things are arguably crucial elements to living a life of wholeness.
If you started to neglect any one of those things, the odds are good that you would start to suffer. It might become painful, even agonizing to neglect yourself in any of these aforementioned categories.
The same is true of your creative expression.
Maya Angelou understood the severity of sealing away our stories when she said…
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
So, yes, we are busy people. We have many responsibilities, but let’s not treat our artistic expression the way that the government typically does and decide that it is not worth the investment of our time, talent and resources.
A creatively expressed you is a healthy you. And the healthier you are as an individual, the more equipped you are to show up to all areas of your life as the best version of yourself.
Being your best self is worth your time.
The universe is not going to magically create a 25th hour in the day. We need to repurpose the time we have already been given because we understand that our creativity matters just as much, and even sometimes more, than everything else.
Well, solo artists, I hope today’s blog entry has enabled you to hear these blatant lies a little bit more loudly when they start chattering in your mind. My desire for you is that you start to replace each fabrication with these inspiring truths…
You have a story worth telling.
You are generous and brave for telling it.
And it is well worth your time to share your story.
Jessica Lynn Johnson
Founder & CEO of Soaring Solo LLC
http://www.SoaringSoloStudios.com
BIO: Jessica Lynn Johnson, is a published playwright, recipient of BEST NATIONAL SOLO ARTIST AWARD from Dialogue One Solo Theatre Festival, Director & Teaching Artist for the LA Women’s Theatre Festival, Co-Producer of the Stars Solo Series,and CEO of Soaring Solo Studios. Jessica aided in the development, direction & producing of over 200 solo shows! As a performer, Jessica “edu-tained” international audiences touring her own one person shows ZE and OBLIVIOUS TO EVERYONE for over 15 years. Jessica’s projects have been awarded TOP OF FRINGE, HFF ENCORE PRODUCER AWARDS, TVOLUTION BEST SOLO PERFORMANCE, LARRY CORNWALL AWARD FOR MUSICAL EXCELLENCE & several other accolades! Jessica was also nominated for the Female Director of Distinction in Theatre by Girl Trip LLC at the 2018 Hollywood Fringe Festival, nominated as Best Director of a Play by Broadway World 2023 & awarded the Rainbow Award 2024 by the LA Women’s Theatre Festival. http://www.SoaringSoloStudios.com