The world’s a pretty messed up place! In my search for spiritual enlightenment, it has become more and more apparent that many people are lost, as if sailing on a rudderless ship. Being alone and lost is a scary thing and one of the panacea’s that sooths this emptiness is the feeling of being part of a community. Shit, that was deep, and believe me – I am not even remotely close to being any kind of doctor or shamen!
Community is essential. I think Zoom, Facetime, etc. have played a huge part in keeping the world sane during these unprecedented times (I had to say it!). Spending time with other voice over people has been essential for nourishing creative juices and making us feel part of something bigger than ourselves.
There may be a minor downside to this though. And in truth, it may just be the way that the world is changing. And I think it started way before Covid. To be accepted into a community, many feel the need to assimilate with the viewpoints of others in the group. There is a fear that if they say the wrong thing, have a differing opinion, that they will be castigated to place where Zoom chats are absent, and the walls of their booth become like walls of a prison.
Discourse should always be welcome in any community. If you make good money from the Voice Realm and are OK with the way they operate – good for you. Tell the world. If someone has a problem with that – good for them. There should follow a healthy debate and all in the community will be much wiser and richer for having heard both sides. (Replace Voice Realm with VoiceBunny, Voices dot com or any other contentious P2P site at your leisure).
And please stop dishing out advice as if you are a seasoned pro, if I then check your website or any other corner of internet for an idea of your experience or credits and find zilch, nada, nothing. I understand that you want to feel like an important part of the community. Truly, I do. But c’mon. If you’ve never been in a live session, please don’t try and tell others the best way to handle the situation. Or give marketing advice to people when you haven’t converted one person to a paying client yet. Brutally blunt? Yes, I suppose so, yet some people need to hear it. After all, we are a community and protecting the “kids” from bad advice is something that the elders should shoulder.
Part of the joy of being a creative is your individualism. It should be cherished, not shielded from the masses. It’s OK to be at the start of your journey. We were all there. It is OK if you have differing views on certain subjects than others, just make sure that you have an open mind and are willing to hear other people’s viewpoint. You don’t have to agree. That’s OK.
Please be yourself and stay true to who you are. One day, I want to bump into you at an in-person VO conference. I don’t want to meet a façade or something other than your true self. You are interesting. You have experiences I have never had. I want to hear where you are in your journey and where you are heading. I want to make sure that your ship is on course and cruising with wind in its sails and you are enjoying the journey. And if you find my enlightenment somewhere on the way, please let me know!