honey, no one is an actor.
we're just people stepping into others' lives
the stage lights help
they burn out your fear and give your sweat a source.

honey, no one deserves it.
you're not born with it, you grow into it,
you don't guide it
you let it guide you. you do what is natural and what is true.

honey, i may not show it
but my skin is a silken cage
full to bursting with butterflies with razor-blade wings.
i just don't let it get to me.

honey, don't you get it?
theater, and the arts as a whole, it's life
it's blood and sweat and breath
don't say it's not your "thing" and don't say you've never done this before
you do it every day
every step you take forward is action and reaction
every word you speak has festered in your mind,
memorized for centuries and just waiting to be free.

and all that matters is
if at the end of the day your heart's not in it
wholly and completely, doesn't matter how well you acted,
you've failed.
and if your heart is in it, all of it,
wholly and completely and unbiased and unashamed,
doesn't matter if you skipped a page and a half
(the audience hasn't got the script memorized)
they'll see your passion and they'll know
you've won.