my lady of the moment - Samantha Barks

Samantha Barks has quite simply captivated me.

She is an actress/singer who is currently on the most amazing journey. If you have seen Les Mis you will know her as the character 'Eponine' which she played fantastically well! Not just an amazing singer but a truly believable actress too.

She trained at Arts Ed and not long after was a contestent on the BBC 1 show 'I'd Do Anything' for which she was fighting week after week to be given the honourary prize of becoming Nancy in the west end hit musical  'Oliver'. Unfortunatley, Samantha only made it to third place on the show.

In a crazy twist of fate a few years later, and after various roles in West End musicals, she became Nancy in 'Oliver' and it was here when Cameron Mackintosh announced live on stage at the finale that he wanted her to play Eponine in the highly anticipated feature film, Les Miserables.

The film has gone on to recieve critical acclaim (which it thoroughly deserves) and everyone seems to be asking the same question...who is this Samantha Barks?

This is the begining of a very VERY bright future for the 22 year old. For me personally, I loved seeing her at The Oscars on Sunday night. It was quite emotional yet inspirational to see a girl roughly the same age as me go through setbacks and defeats but still push on and find this an amazing path which any actor dreams of!

Taking a swerve from the acting perspective and more onto style (which is a big passion of mine too) I thought she nailed the 'Oscars' look 100%.
For an actress that has only just come onto the scene, who wasnt nominated for an award but an actress who wanted to say 'hi, here I am' this was the PERFECT ensemble.

Understated yet bold. Classy, but sexy.

the actresses

The things I would do to have a cuppa and a chat with any one of these ladies... and here they all are, together, in a room, talking about their views on fears, the industry and problems they have encountered during their career to date.

Have a watch and get inspired.

FOCUS

This weeks blogpost has January written all over it. I am hoping to give you guys a shot of inspiration to start the year positively.

It is something I have picked up on from personal experience, and what I have had to (and still have to) work on every day.

It is ‘distractions’.

Distractions are always going to be there. It is nearby impossible to avoid them what with internet, social networking, tv's and the overall hustle of fast paced modern life. Putting the material objects aside, even your brain has a way of distracting you. For example, you need to put some work into a song, dance, script, essay etc but you just can’t think clear therefore heading to the nearest procrastination dock you can find. You then get annoyed with yourself and question do you really have the passion, or motivation to be the best at what you do? Yep,I have been there. People get bogged down with how far they have to go when achieving something. It overwhelms them and puts a sub-conscious barrier up filtering procrastination through .

When you focus on problems, you have problems. When you focus on possibilities you will have more opportunities.

Focus on how far you have come already. The journey that has led you here.  Be patient, sometimes your ahead of them, sometimes your behind but you MUST keep your clarity and integrity strong.

Clarity = Focus = Determination = Success

I'm no brain scientist but that’s common sense right? So why do we sometimes not put this method into action?

We don’t need to be rigid, stiff, boring people. But if you feel you’re going astray from your goals/dreams then consciously do something about it! Just put some time aside in your day to become clear. The most valuable thing I have learnt this last few months is that your thoughts become things. So, manifest them in a positive way, a way that is going to lead you down the right path.

Rid yourself of distraction, get clear, get focused, make goals and get your butts out there in the world.

Distraction is the divided attention of the individual. Focus is the ONLY attention of the individual.

BIG LOVE x

'the time you think your missing, misses you too'

'the time you think your missing, misses you too'



Ok, so, I have just started a new job. It’s not a job I particularly enjoy and it’s not exactly mentally stimulating either but never the less; it’s a job and I know just how hard it is to find one in the current climate so for that I am grateful.

I am now working 40 hours a week, 5 days a week putting my best smile on for work when deep down I would rather be on stage, in front of a camera, at creative meetings and learning my craft etc etc.

After my first 2 weeks I came home one evening  after a mind numbing shift and just sobbed. Sobbed to the point where I thought even my dog had enough of my spluttering and was tempted to go and get me some Kleenex. I had so many negative emotions floating around in my head. Fears and anxiety’s.

Is this where I was going to stay for the next 20 years? How was I ever going to keep doing the creative work when I was too busy working at a dead end job to pay the bills? You’re going to be left behind whilst others succeed, you’re  this, you’re that...

Before I could even slap myself I had already talked myself out of my career and viciously bullied my poor little head. I woke up the next day and realised there HAD to be a way around this and luckily I had my lightbulb moment of clarity.

What’s stopping me from living the life I want, and how do other people get it?

My inspirations, you, me...we all share one thing in common...TIME.

Each of us has 24 hours in a day, 1440 minutes and 86,000 seconds. In a week we all have 168 hours, 10,080 minutes and 604,800 seconds.

I did some maths (which impressed my inner maths critic) and worked out that minus my 8 hours sleep a night, 8 hours work 5x a week and my travelling there and back, I have 67 hours FREE TIME in a week!! That is another full time job and more...

The realisation this bought to me was crazy, I can no longer complain I dont have time to do anything. Those 67 hours each week are going to be my priority and I won’t be wasting a minute; it is my other full time job and one that feeds my soul.

Gone are the hours watching T.V/ internet surfing or staring into my fridge (which everyone does when they first walk in...right?) I have replaced these with reading/watching/training in my craft, emailing, sourcing and devising my next goals.

I had realised the people I look up to most didn’t have easy like everyone thinks these days, they too had to do these crazy jobs to keep a roof over their head, but their secret was too never get complacent with time. They used every minute of it to their advantage.

Ask yourself this...what do YOU do with your 67 hours spare a week??

If you don’t like the answer then shake things up. Make an appointment with you and create a list of goals and aspirations to do in this time, before you know it, it will be next year and you are still ‘getting round to it’ after being ‘too busy’

For instance, imagine you got given £1440 everyday for the rest of your life but you had to use it all in a day otherwise it would dissapear...what would you do? You would bust a sweat to go and make sure you spent all that in a day right!?

The method of time should be used in the same way.

NOT HAVING TIME IS NO LONGER AN EXCUSE FOR ME.

Do what you gotta do peeps, and I just hope I have inspired you to change your own personal concept of time..

BIG LOVE x