Brendan Bald

Tag: Brendan Bald Writer

  • The Truth About The “CREATIVE LIFESTYLE”

    The Truth About The “CREATIVE LIFESTYLE”

    Let’s talk about the “Creative Lifestyle.” 

    I’m talking to those folks who are living out their creative passions and financially supporting themselves with side jobs. My question for you is how long are you willing to continue this lifestyle? 1 year? 5 years? 10 years? 15?

    I currently work three part-time jobs. None of which I am truly passionate about but all of which I enjoy. They don’t pay me much but it’s enough to cover my expenses.  They also give me flexibility to pursue my creative dreams (acting and writing). 

    At this point in my life, I’ve prioritized passion over practicality.  Some may look at my life choices with a questionable eye. “Why is this lawyer working retail, giving tours, and trying to be an actor?” I hear it a lot, trust me. 

    Truth is, I’m okay with not making a lot of money. I’m okay with not having a “traditional” career. I have a deep desire to act and write creatively. So that’s what I’m trying to do. I don’t have many fears, but regret is one of them. It’s the driving factor behind a lot of my life decisions. 

    All that sounds inspiring, I know. But despite what it may sound like, I don’t have it all figured out. Here’s a question I’m completely unsure about…

    How long will I be able to keep this lifestyle up? 

    The bravado response is AS LONG AS IT TAKES!! But that’s not honest. 

    The truth is I HAVE NO IDEA. 

    Maybe my passions will take me in a different direction. Maybe I’ll never be able to fully support myself with acting or writing. Maybe I’ll become a “working actor.” Maybe I’ll sell a screenplay. WHO THE HELL KNOWS! That’s what’s so great and terrifying about being an artist. 

    The goal of my creative pursuits is not to make money – it’s to be happy. Now don’t get me wrong, I would LOVE to be able to financially support myself with work that I love – I think we all would. But wealth is not the destination – happiness is. 

    That’s why I haven’t given myself an arbitrary time limit. I’m not sitting here thinking, “If I don’t make it in 2 years, I’ll give in and go get a real job.” FUCK THAT. If I thought like that, I’d be done for. I definitely wouldn’t “make it,” whatever that means, and I definitely wouldn’t be happy. 

    Instead, I’m not in a rush. I’m taking my time.  

    Who knows how long I’ll be happy being a broke artist. 1 year? 5 years? 20 years? Forever? I have no clue. Will things change? I don’t know, maybe? 

    All I know is that I’m happy now pursuing what I love. 

    Cheers. 

  • The Key to Happiness: Find Joy In Where You’re at RIGHT NOW

    The Key to Happiness: Find Joy In Where You’re at RIGHT NOW

    Here’s a lesson that I only learned recently in life. 

    Find joy in where you’re at RIGHT NOW. 

    For far too long I put off happiness while in pursuit of my goals. 

    When I was in Law School, I completely put my life on hold.

    I remember telling myself, “just put your head down and accept being miserable for three years. You can be happy after.” 

    So that’s what I did.

    I focused all of my attention on my studies. In all fairness, Law School is extremely hard work and given my course load, a lot of my attitude was warranted. But I was constantly thinking about the future.

    I NEEDED to graduate and pass the bar in order to start my life and be happy. 

    I actually performed well in Law School. Graduated with a 3.5 GPA. Passed the Maryland Bar on my first try. Despite this success, nothing changed. 

    I was still obsessed with the future.

    I remember thinking…

    How could I start my life when I don’t have the PERFECT job?

    I couldn’t be “happy” until I was making at least six figures, right?

    I never gave much thought to what I ACTUALLY WANTED TO DO – especially outside of the law. 

    So now officially in the working world, I put my head down and started to grind. I started with my father’s law firm, then at a judicial clerkship, then an investment bank, then another law firm, until finally two years later I circled back with my father’s firm. 

    Why did I jump around so much? Because I started to follow my gut.

    I wasn’t happy in any of the jobs I had. I didn’t enjoy the work, the subject matter, none of it. Something just wasn’t right. 

    During my time practicing law, practicality ruled my life.

    Leaving the law wasn’t an option. You can’t just casually walk away from a legal career after taking the LSATs, being admitted into Law School, spending three years studying, graduating, and then passing the bar – right?  

    It wasn’t until I started working at my father’s firm for the second time that I started to think about what I ACTUALLY wanted to do. 

    I’d always had a passion for film and entertainment.

    I’d always wanted to be an actor.

    I’d always wanted to write creatively.

    But these passions had been suffocated by PRACTICALITY.

    At this point, I had also just gone through a breakup.

    Although difficult at the time, it helped me put things into perspective. It opened up my eyes and forced me to focus on myself. And that’s when I finally said fuck practicality…

    I moved to Nashville and dramatically changed careers!!

    Did anything change? Did I break my habit of putting happiness on hold until I reach some hypothetical goal? 

    NOPE!

    When I first moved to Nashville, I set goals and put my happiness on hold until I achieved them.

    I immediately signed up for acting and improv classed. I got headshots. I started auditioning.

    After I gain success, I thought, only THEN will I allow myself to be happy. 

    And that’s how I lived my first six months in Nashville.

    I was considerably in a better mental state, having made the career change. BUT something was still off.

    It wasn’t until recently that I realized my mindset wasn’t conducive to the life I wanted.

    I no longer wanted to put off happiness.

    So I changed.

    I didn’t stop setting goals. I didn’t work any less. But I did switch my mindset.

    I started enjoying the little things. I started finding joy in my journey. I started finding joy in my study of acting, in my writing, in my side jobs, in my social life, in everything.

    This tiny switch dramatically improved my well-being. 

    I now no longer feel as if my life is on hold. I’m more motivated to pursue my goals. I’m more focused than I’ve ever been. I am happier than I’ve ever been. Why? 

    Because even though I have BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS goals, I understand that my happiness is not determined by whether or not I achieve them. Instead, my happiness is derived from whether or not I try. 

    Do yourself a favor and find joy in where you’re at RIGHT NOW – this second.

    If you do that, I promise you, you’ll be infinitely happier because of it. 

  • An Actor’s Excuse to Binge Netflix…

    An Actor’s Excuse to Binge Netflix…

    Listen, I’ve got two words for ya. MARKET RESEARCH!

    Yes. You read that correctly. In almost every field of work, market research absolutely blows.  It’s a fact of life. 

    UNLESS you’re an Actor. 

    “Why? What’s the difference?” You may ask.

    Well it’s quite simple.  

    For an actor, market research means watching loads and loads of movies and TV shows. It’s basically a free pass to spend 12 hours on a Sunday watching Netflix. You can literally call a day filled with two large pizzas, three bags of chips, six diet cokes, and the entire first season of Ozark a “productive” day. 

    Watching movies and TV shows is considered “working.” This is one of the MANY amazing things about acting. Obviously, no one is paying you to do this “work.” BUT you can learn so much and improve your craft by watching movies and television. 

    You’ll discover a plethora of information if you study your favorite actors. You’ll discover what sorts of characters they typically play. You’ll get a sense of their range. You’ll start to notice their ticks. You’ll notice their blocking. You’ll notice everything. And it’s all beneficial. 

    Point being, you can learn A TON by studying the actors you admire. 

    The same holds true if you’re a writer.  

    I recently jumped into the world of screenwriting and now try to either watch the movies or read the screenplays of my favorite writers. 

    Currently my all-time favorite writer is Aaron Sorkin. The way he drafts dialogue is out of this world. I find myself spending many a night binge watching West Wing or re-reading his famous play, A Few Good Men. Any time I write, I tell myself to “channel my inner Sorkin.” I’m not kidding. 😂

    Now that I’m re-reading this blog post, I’m starting to think this may just be one giant justification for my tendency to binge watch so much Netflix. But who cares, right? It’s all done in the name of MARKET RESEARCH!!

  • “Nice To Meet You, Brendan – So What Do You Do?”

    “Nice To Meet You, Brendan – So What Do You Do?”

    “Nice to meet you, Brendan – so what do you do?”

    This is a difficult question to answer. Most artists dread the question. 

    Do I respond by revealing my creative pursuits? “I’m an Actor!!!”

    OR do I respond by revealing my ACTUAL work? You know, the stuff I do that actually pays me.

    I struggled with this question when I first stopped practicing law and embarked on my creative endeavors. I’d ask myself, “how can I say I’m an actor when I haven’t been in anything??” 

    If I told people I was an Actor, they’d surely respond, “No way! So cool! Have I seen you in anything?” After which I’d clear my throat, laugh, and respond, “doubt it.” Then proceed to change the subject with a classic, “how about all those scooters downtown, crazy right?” Not the most invigorating conversation, I know. 

    But over the past six months I’ve come to a few realizations…

    THE FIRST – never let other people’s opinions affect your decision making. This comes straight from Gary Vaynerchuck, the legend himself. Don’t say or not say something because you’re worried about what that person will think of you. Behaving that way is just silly. What other people think of you is none of your damn business. You do you.  

    THE SECOND – you don’t have to be profiting off your art in order to identify as an artist. For most artists, money isn’t the primary motive. And if it is, I doubt they’ll last long. Most artists are pursuing their art because they love it. And shouldn’t people identify with what they love? That’s rhetorical – of course they should.  

    THE THIRD – the more people who know what you do, the better off you’ll be. This is an old networking trick. Connections are EVERYTHING in this business. I truly believe that. So why would you ever not tell somebody you’re an actor, or a writer, or an artist? You have no idea what connections that person has. They may refer you to a filmmaker who is need of an actor for an upcoming short film. Or they may have a friend who is in need of an additional writer for a sketch comedy group. You never know what could happen. 

    You are doing yourself a disservice if you withhold information about your creative pursuits when you meet new contacts. Tell the world what you do. Don’t be timid. The more who know – the BETTER!

    To sum all of the above up, it doesn’t fucking matter what people think. JUST BE HONEST!! Tell the truth. 

    If you’re still sitting there thinking, “can I really call myself an actor if I don’t actually make a living acting?” Slap yourself. Good. Then slap yourself again. OF COURSE, YOU CAN. Ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy? Speak that shit into existence. 

    I currently make my living as a tour guide and retail sales associate but here’s how I respond to the infamous question, “So what do you do.”

    “I’m an Actor and Writer pursing the dream here in Nashville, TN.”

    That’s it.

    OWN IT. 

    CASE CLOSED.

  • Camp Friendship: A True Story

    Camp Friendship: A True Story

    I didn’t always hate camping. But one summer changed everything…

    Way back in the day when I was just a young and innocent little child, my parents sent me and my brother to an outdoor “adventure” camp. It was called Camp Friendship. This was our first overnight summer camp away from our parents. We were excited for sure but also nervous at the same time. 

    The traumatizing events that occurred at Camp Friendship permanently cemented my hatred of camping and also my fear of bugs. 

    I remember the events of my first 24 hours at Camp Friendship vividly. I remember being dropped off by my parents and receiving a brief tour by one of the counselors. I remember getting so excited after seeing the huge pool, jet skis, and archery station (I was randomly super into archery). But the minute I moved my luggage into my “cabin,” everything changed. 

    Not but 2 minutes after meeting my cabin counselor, he told me about the black widow spiders within the cabin. Now I don’t know if y’all know about black widow spiders. But they are Satan’s spawn. They are what nightmares are made of. If you don’t know – google it. 

    At the time, all I knew about black widow spiders was that they were huge and deadly. So yeah – I was terrified. Anyways, our counselor had found a family of Black Widow Spiders inside of our cabin the day before and instead of moving the kids out of the cabin, he simply told us to be on the “look out” for them. Apparently, black widows were prevalent in the area. 

    If you don’t think this start to camp was horrifying enough, don’t worry because things escalated quickly. In the middle of my cabin counselor’s forewarning about the poisonous spiders living amongst us, a freakin RAT ran over the tops of my feet. I about near had a heart attack. I was also wearing flip flops. I felt that piece of shit run right over the tops of my bare-naked feet. I was so terrified at the time that I couldn’t even articulate words to say. I just kind of stood there frozen – like a deer in headlights. I then remember my cabin counselor responding all calmly “oh yeah, sometimes rats get in here as well.”  ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??? He then proceeded to hand me my agenda and took off. 

    At this point, I wanted to go home ASAP. I had had enough of this shit. And I was in no mood to do a bunch of dumb ass camp games at the Camp Friendship orientation. So you know what I did? I skipped it. I threw my agenda away and decided to do my own thing. I put on my bathing suit and went out to find the pool. I was going to try and salvage some fun out of this trip before calling mommy and daddy to pick me up. 

    The only problem was that I had absolutely no effing idea where anything was. I’ve always been a little geographically challenged – still am today. But I had no idea where the pool was. So I just started to wander. I eventually ended up at a shooting range in the middle of the woods. It was a bunch of older kids firing rifles at targets. When the counselor saw me, he asked where I was supposed to be. I lied. I told him I was supposed to be at the range. This dude had to have known I was lying because the kids in this group were like 7 years older than me. But the counselor didn’t care. He gave me a gun and let me shoot. I felt like such a badass. This is the ONLY dope thing that happened on this trip. 

    Anyways, after the shooting range I followed the guys back to the cafeteria. There I found my brother and my assigned counselor. I got in a little trouble for skipping but got away with it because I told them I was lost. I then proceeded to tell him that I wanted to go home ASAP. I was crying my eyes out. I was NOT a tough ass kid. I was terrified and missed my parents. I REALLY wanted to go home. But the counselor wasn’t having it. He told me he’d call my parents in the morning and that a lot of kids want to go home at first but end up having the time of their lives. Yada yada yada – it sounded like bullshit to me and I was so pissed. After dinner it was time for showers. This is where shit gets REAL. 

    The showers and bathrooms were in a separate building probably 100 yards from our cabin. I remember thinking that maybe a hot shower would make me feel better. Boy was I wrong. 

    The showers were set up like a locker room. Just a bunch of small shower stalls with curtains. It was a little late so not many people were in there. I picked a stall, opened the curtain, and walked inside. I then reached back to close the curtain but felt something crawling on my hand. I quickly turned around and saw that the back of my shower curtain was crawling with hundreds of cockroaches. I am not exaggerating. There were hundreds of cockroaches crawling up and down this fuckin curtain. Some hanging and others falling to the ground near my feet. I can see this image clear as day as I type this. 

    After seeing the cockroaches, I freaked the hell out. I was literally trapped. No way I was going to use my hand to open this cockroach invested curtain. So I came up with this brilliant plan to use my flip flop to pull the curtain back. It worked (thank god) and I sprinted out of their faster than Usain Bolt in the 2012 Olympics. 

    I ran to the head counselors cabin, knocked on his door, and begged him to take me home. Tears were FLOWING. At this point he finally called my parents but wouldn’t let me talk to them. After his phone call he told me that my parents would come visit the next day. He then proceeded to let me use the counselor’s bathroom to shower. 

    The next day my parents didn’t visit but they did send me and my brother a giant care package full of every candy and snack imaginable. This definitely softened the blow.

    The rest of my experience at Camp Friendship wasn’t nearly as bad as the first 24 hours. The counselors let me use their bathroom the rest of the week. So lucky for me, I didn’t have to come across anymore cockroaches. I also never saw a black widow. And no more rats ran over my feet. Any fun I ended up having has since been blocked out of my memory due to my horrific first 24 hours. 

    This, ladies and gentlemen, is why I hate camping. Don’t try and convince otherwise because you will fail. 

    That is all. 

    Over and out. 

    ~Brendan