From the U.S.: Recently, my mom’s gotten into a bit of a saddened state. You see, she loves acting, but everything going on in her life has restricted her from doing anything close to it. The city we live in has no interest or location specifically for acting and her job leaves her no time to do any kind of acting if any possibility arises. She and my step-dad run a wedding photography business. For the sake of privacy I won’t give any more details than that.
All of this in mind, there’s not much left for her. The only chance she has is to film at home and make videos. Which the family doesn’t really mind. It even brings in some income too. Sadly, it’s gotten to a point where she’s run out of options there as well. So she plans on killing off her character in her videos to bring an end to her videos.
She hates that fact.
I’m usually a soft-spoken person when it comes to, well, anything really. Although I still keep an ear out for everything. Not to mention I have my own hobby that’s in a similar category as my mom’s acting. Writing. So to see that my Mom has to kill off her favorite thing to do (quite literally if you think about it), I feel so worried for her. The worst part being that I don’t know what to do about it.
So because I don’t know what to do, that’s why I’ve come to this website. I need some advice. My mom loves acting and now she has to give it up because everything around us is forcing her to do so.
What should I do? I know that her dying hobby will lead to something destructive or negative. My mom might have plenty to help keep the lack of acting off her mind, but that only goes so far before ending badly one way or another. If any professional has some ideas for me, I’ll try and keep an eye on this website for a while. However, if it’s at all possible please send an email directly to me. I’ll be more than likely to see that response faster.
Thank you for reading my situation and thank you a second time in case you may have a solution.
Your mother is lucky indeed to have such a caring son. You are doing your best to be supportive but you may not understand what is really going on for her. It is rare that all doors to an interest like acting get closed. My guess is that the issues around her acting career are a distraction from something else that is harder for her to face. Rather than deal with whatever it is, she places her negativity and anger at the theater.
True to her theatrical nature, your mother is dramatically (and maybe unnecessarily) ending her acting career. The fact is that your state (indeed, your city) has many community theater groups. There are also numerous young people’s theater companies that count on adults like your mom to help kids learn the theater arts. If your mom can’t find a company to her liking, she could start one. She knows how to run a business. She knows how to act. So I have to ask myself why she isn’t doing something to keep her love of theater alive?
I may not understand the total situation, it’s true. I can only suggest that situations are rarely as bleak as you seem to think. For some reason, your creative mother isn’t using her intelligence and creativity to find a way to fit at least a part time acting career into her life. It could be that she got some negative feedback and she is giving up rather than trying harder. It could be that she is making some kind of point with your father or someone else. It could be that she is really tired of it but finds it easier to go down in a blaze of glory than to just let acting fade out of her life. Or it could be something else entirely.
The only way to know would be to ask her and she may not want to burden her teen-aged son with the truth of her discouragement. You could talk with your dad to see if he has an insight that would be helpful to you. If not, all you can do is tell your mom how very sorry you are that she is so discouraged and then get on with your own life. She is the one who has to deal with whatever she is dealing with, not you. All you can do (and it’s a lot) is let her know that you love her and have confidence in her ability to solve her problem.
I wish you well.
Dr. Marie
