July 28, 2023 • 18 mins
Picture this: An introvert, standing alone on the picket line at Amazon Studios, feeling the weight of ancestral history, and surrounded by a sea of people. It's a scenario that could have easily overwhelmed Tiwana Floyd.
However, propelled by the spirit of ancestors and the compelling need to join the ranks of union members in solidarity, She found the strength to overcome her innate introversion. This empowering narrative is one that she shares with you today, an honest portrayal of her struggles and the ultimate triumph of surmounting them.
Yet, the journey doesn't end there. If you're an introvert, or know someone who is, the second part of this discussion leans into how you can navigate the hustle and bustle of a picket line without losing your peace of mind.
It's not all about being the loudest or most noticeable, your dedication to the cause carries a profound resonance. Tiwana shares strategies on setting time limits, taking recharging breaks, and acknowledging emotions when they feel overwhelming.
Join the conversation about navigating such spaces while honoring your unique introverted energy.
Acting Lessons Learned is Produced, Written, Recorded, Engineered and Edited by Tiwana Floyd
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey there, welcome back to Acting Lessons Learned.
I'm Tawanna Floyd.
I share personal experiences inthe lessons I've learned and
still learning as a workingactor in Los Angeles.
So I don't plan to make everyepisode a strike conversation,
but we SAG Aftermembers are inthe early stages of striking and
I learned something aboutmyself this past Tuesday when I
made my first picket lineappearance that I bet you or
(00:24):
someone you know may also haveexperienced or been thinking of
or undergoing, and that iswalking the picket lines while
being an introvert, once thewriter strike was announced and
SAG Aftermembers were joiningthem on the front lines.
I have been feeling thisaversion to picketing, but not
understanding really why.
(00:44):
Possibly because it's beensweltering in Los Angeles or
because I just didn't know howto navigate all of the
parameters around parking,signing up, the best time of day
, who's going to be there, whocan I walk with?
But last week, when I receivedan invite from a trusted
colleague that she was gatheringpeople to meet the following
Tuesday, I took that as anopportunity to join the ranks of
(01:07):
union members, to walk insolidarity, to let these studio
execs know that I care Well, notthat they know who I am or that
they even care that I exist,but to join the numbers to help
make an impact.
Several days leading up to thisTuesday actually until an hour
before the 10am meetup time Iwavered on my decision to join
(01:29):
my colleague and the crew ofpeople she had rallied together.
I didn't know why I was beingso indecisive.
It wasn't a gut feeling sayingto stay home, just me
flip-flopping back and forth onwhether or not I should go,
since we were going to meet atAmazon in Culver City, which is
a little more west of LA, kindof like in the cooler parts,
(01:49):
because it's going towards SantaMonica, so it's not the hottest
part of town.
The studio is not in the valley, where temperatures hit triple
digits before noon.
I had the perfect picket lineoutfit planned out thanks to my
writer friend, who shared allthe proper approaches to safe
picketing, being that she was awriter and they had already
become picket pros, having beenon the line for almost two
(02:10):
months.
So there really was no reasonfor me not to attend.
There was going to be peoplethere that I knew.
It's not going to be too hot,it's close by.
But it wasn't until I was inthe thick of it all that I
realized why I had beenreluctant to strike.
It's just too much for me.
I found it incrediblyoverstimulating for my
(02:32):
introverted spirit.
While I was there I wasexperiencing low level anxiety,
a little disorientation, eventhough this studio was not the
most heavily protested lot, butit was enough of a crowd to
hijack my nervous system.
But I got to go backwardsbecause the low levels of
anxiety and disorientation hadstarted before I joined all the
(02:55):
union members on the picket line.
It started at home.
First of all, I had a sleeplessnight, an anomaly for me.
I typically sleep fast and deep, but I went to bed at 5 am and
when I woke up at 8 am I wasgroggy.
My face felt puffy, I wasthirsty, I didn't have an
appetite and all of thisconcerned me because I knew that
I would be in the sun and Ineeded to be rested.
(03:17):
I knew that I needed to havesustenance in my belly and I
needed to be hydrated.
I needed to basically feel well.
So my back and forth on goingramped up and I was tempted to
use my sleepless night as anexcuse not to go.
So I sent a temperature text tomy colleague to see if she was
still going.
You know how you text to takethe temperature if someone has
(03:39):
changed your mind so you can useit as a reason to stay home.
Is that just me?
It can't be just me.
But nope, she had people comingand was already en route.
It was 9.30 am and they weremeeting at 10.
But I had just finished mymorning routine of meditating
and journaling so I still neededto shower, get dressed, try to
eat something and then driveover.
I decided that I was going togo, but I wasn't going to put
(04:01):
the added pressure on myself tobe there by 10 am.
So instead of giving myself thepressure to do all these things
in 10 minutes, I decided to goat my own pace.
I made a green juice, I ate abanana and a handful of nuts in
the car, a shower, got dressed,ironed my shirt and I was parked
across the street from thestudio by 10.30 am.
(04:21):
As I stood on Washington Avenuein Culver City, across from the
studio, waiting at the light tocross the street to join the
strikers, it occurred to me thatthis was going to be my first
ever union picketing protest,and so I started thinking about
you know, black people have sucha long, tumultuous history with
picket lines and protests, that, even though I wasn't born
(04:44):
during the civil rights protest,it's in my DNA Because my
grandmother was a part of theprotest and she would tell me
stories about it, and it'salways prevalent in our diaspora
because it was such a pivotalmoment in our freedom.
Black people have historicallyexperienced violence at
nonviolent protests, so even inthe face of this calm and quiet
(05:05):
protest happening across thestreet, I had a wash of fear
come over me.
I was a guy who walked up nextto me at the light and I could
tell he was there for the strikeas well, possibly a part of the
group that I was joining.
We engaged pleasantries, but hewas preoccupied with his phone.
Although my body was physicallystanding on the corner, my
spirit was having an innerdialogue with my ancestors.
(05:27):
I began to pray for protectionfor my mind and my body and my
spirit.
I blessed the land and thankedthe native ancestors who still
had me been there in a spiritrealm, and then I blasted the
entire city of Kovar with love,summoning my angels.
My spirit guides my grandmotherto be here with me now, and I
(05:50):
was so steeped in my prayer.
The guy standing near me waitingfor the light to change said
damn, this is a long ass light.
He brought me back to my body.
I was standing close to thepole and the light changed
button, but I realized I hadnever pressed it.
I frantically pressed thebutton, jokingly saying oh, I
never pressed the button, and Ialmost started to share a key
and peel sketch about notpressing the crosswalk button.
(06:11):
But I had a feeling he probablywouldn't get the reference as
he may not have watched a keyand peel show.
Also, I wasn't in a mood forsmall talk to explain it, nor
was I interested in trying towin his attention from his phone
.
We must have missed three walklights before I finally noticed
the light said four seconds.
It wasn't a long light.
We kept missing it because itwas a fast light, but since
(06:34):
neither the guy or I were payingattention, we kept missing it.
I came back to my present selfas we crossed the street, not
together.
The guy was walking behind mebut he was giving me this don't
talk to me energy, which wasfine with me because I'm not big
on small talk.
But I was curious to know whatdo I do?
So I asked him if he had donethis before and if he knew
(06:55):
whether or not we needed to signin.
He graciously, yet dismissively, said yeah and pointed in the
way to go.
There was a sag after tarpwhere I signed in, picked up a
t-shirt and a sign and beganwalking until I saw my colleague
in her group, and I was rightthe guy was with the same group.
Now, the group was mostlycomprised of people I didn't
know, but everyone was jovialyet focused on creating call and
(07:18):
response chants on a spot.
And then I saw one of my closefriends, so I saddled up next to
her and we had a friendly chatcatching up on life and industry
things.
I spoke with a few other people.
I was doing it, I was walking,I was talking, I was in the
thick of it.
It wasn't as intimidating as Imade it out to be.
I was responding to the chantcalls.
(07:40):
We were loud and proud, doinglittle jigs.
The temperature had increased,we were becoming sweaty, still
not unbearable, as unbearable asthe valley was, but it was
getting hot.
Over time, more people joinedour group and more people began
to show up in general, and thisis where I started to feel the
pangs of Anxiety.
(08:01):
Now, when I get this way, Ibecome aloof, like odd, like
awkward, almost kind of like Notapproachable, I guess I could
say.
And it's nothing against thepeople that are in my presence,
it's just, it's just my feelings.
I'm an empath, I'm an introvertand I kind of just like need to
need to have a little spacearound me because I get
(08:23):
overwhelmed and Over-stimulateit.
I noticed that there was acouple that I knew and I hadn't
yet had a chance to speak tothem, and it was getting weird
for me because we were in thesame group and enough time had
passed where I could have spokento them.
But quite frankly, they couldhave spoken to me too.
So I started getting in my heador making up stories that they
may think that I'm beingstandoffish or shady, but with
(08:46):
so many people around them, Idecided to catch them later and
I did.
They were by themselves and Iwent over and I said, hey, y'all
, I didn't give you a properhello, and then we chatted
briefly and Then it wasannounced that there was a
semblance of lunch being served,some form of vegetable pitas,
whatever that meant.
So I got on the food line.
I still didn't have an appetite.
I tried one, took a bite, butthrew it away pretty quickly
(09:10):
because I know what things willturn my stomach and I had a
feeling from one taste, one biteof that veggie pita thingy,
that it was gonna make me regreteating it later.
My introverted spirit wasapproaching the energy depletion
threshold, kind of like, Iguess, maybe an amber level.
I was on green.
Now I was reaching amber and Ineeded to go before I reached
(09:34):
the red part.
It was my cue.
I did well.
My first union picket line wasa success in terms of I came, I
saw, I chanted and now I hadenough and it was time for me to
go.
With so many people in our groupa lot of them that I knew in
passing, my friend who I knewwell, I had to peace out.
(09:57):
The group had swelled so muchand I intended to say goodbye to
everyone, but I was enteringthe red zone of my energy and
that's the space where my moodtakes a deep dive.
I'm no longer effervescent towanna, I'm introverted to wanna.
I don't want to be bothered byanybody to wanna, and the only
person who really knows thisabout me was my close friend.
(10:20):
But she was, you know, she hadher daughter there and she's an
extrovert, so I can't expect herto come and take care of me.
I actually would not wantanybody to take care of me.
I just know that I need to takecare of myself and leave, and
that's.
That's the thing about being anintrovert.
At least, when you know thatyou're an introvert, you know
your limits, you know when youcan no longer be social to
(10:42):
sustain saying goodbye toeveryone.
So, as much as I try to catchthose who are not surrounded by
a swell of people, I managed tosay goodbye to three people.
I didn't say goodbye to theperson who invited me.
She was perpetually encircledby a lot of people, naturally
because she had brought all ofus together.
But once I got to my car alonein the air conditioner Actually
(11:05):
the moment that I walked awayfrom the line and I was by
myself my energy bar started tospike up a bit.
So I texted her goodbye and Ithanked her for the invite.
I stayed for an hour and a half, but I managed to leave before
my energy hit zero.
So it was all around successand I left before my energy
(11:27):
expired.
As I was driving home I wonderedare other introverts wanting to
strike but fear their lifeenergy would be drastically
Depleted by the large group ofstrikers, or maybe the social
aspects of being awkward is toouncomfortable to overcome, and I
started thinking about thethings that I did to take care
(11:48):
of myself.
And if I had to share it, thisis what I would say.
Here's a couple of bulletpoints, if you will.
Social interaction.
Exhaustion is real forintroverts.
Picket lines involve continuoussocial interaction with fellow
protesters, passerby, possiblyeven confrontations with those
who disagree with the cause, andthis can be emotionally
(12:10):
draining for introverts, whooften require time to recharge
our energy.
I suggest setting time limitsfor social interactions.
Take short breaks, find a quietspace to recharge when needed,
which is what I did.
Communicate your needs to yourfellow picketers so they
understand your desire foroccasional solitude, or just
(12:31):
leave.
Then there's the dreaded smalltalk and networking.
You know small talk andnetworking can be challenging.
I think it's challenging foreveryone, but it's just really
not what introverts like to do.
Picket lines often involveconversing with new people and
explaining who you are and whatyou do, or, if you're like,
feeling like there's actorsthere or writers there who are.
(12:54):
Their careers are more elevatedthan yours and sometimes you
may feel like you're not worthyto have a conversation with them
.
Let's get over all of that.
We're all equals.
We're all out here picketing.
It doesn't matter whose careeris where.
We're all fighting for the samething and, quite frankly,
tables turn all the time.
That person's career might bemore elevated than yours today
(13:16):
and in a few months or a fewyears, the tables will turn and
your career will be moreelevated.
But it's not a hierarchy.
We're just here, fighting forthe same thing.
So keep that in mind.
But also consider preparing sometalking points in advance to
help you feel more confident orarticulate during conversations,
like somebody asked me how Iwas doing and in that moment, do
(13:38):
I tell them that my energythreshold is depleted?
Or do I just say no, I'm good.
And I went for the latter.
No, I'm good All thingsconsidered, but really that was
a moment for me to be authenticand say you know what?
Right now, life is good, but Iam feeling overwhelmed and
overstimulated with what'shappening, and so I'm probably
going to leave soon.
(13:59):
I'm going to say goodbye to younow, just in case of I peace
out without saying anything toyou.
Damn, that's good.
I wish I'd thought of thatbefore.
And then you have to alsoconsider that during the strike.
Being on a picket line,everybody is dealing with a
range of emotions and if you'rean empath, you pick up on all
those emotions around you andyou may find it challenging to
(14:21):
handle the intensity of all ofit and you may not even know
what you're experiencing.
It shows up for me as anxietyin my stomach and sometimes, if
it's like really concentrated,it's almost I can't breathe and
I have to go and remove myselffrom all of the people and just
sit quietly and take deepbreaths.
So be sure to acknowledge youremotions.
(14:43):
When you're in the thick ofthings, it's okay to take a step
back if you feel overwhelmed.
Overall, remember that everyonehas different ways of showing
support.
Your presence and commitmentmatter, even if you're not the
loudest person on the line.
Look for like-mindedindividuals who might also
prefer quieter ways ofcontributing.
(15:04):
After participating in a picketline, engage in your own self
care practices after picketingto help you decompress and relax
.
I knew that I needed a littlebit more time to recover and
process the experience, so Iallowed myself the necessary
downtime to recharge and reflect, to eat a great meal that I
(15:25):
really enjoyed, to watch a showthat made me laugh and just to
be in the privacy of my homewith the air conditioner running
, with no other people talkingor chanting or emoting their
energy.
Being an introvert doesn't meanwe diminish the value of our
contribution to a cause, and wedon't get to diminish our light
(15:46):
or ourselves.
In the meantime, we can bequiet and still be observant and
still be as committed aseveryone else.
Our presence and dedication tostriking makes a meaningful
impact, even if you only chooseto be there for 10, 20, 30
minutes or, in my case, an hourand a half.
(16:07):
Let's embrace our introvertednatures and find our own unique
ways to support the cause thatwe believe in.
Introverts, we get to supportthe strike in the best way that
fits us.
No apologies, that's it.
If you're an extrovert listeningto this and you're probably
like, really that's what youguys experience, I love people,
(16:29):
that's wonderful.
But, um, your introvertedfriends love people in a
different way, and so we justneed space and peace and quiet
to do so.
And look, if you have anintrovert friend and you know
they are trying to strike andthey may want to get out there
but not really knowing how,share this episode with them so
that they know how to take careof themselves and be a part of
(16:52):
it.
Um, and really emphasize thatthey don't have to stay long.
They can go and drive by, park,honk the horn, whatever it is
that they can do.
Thank you for listening.
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
Also, I could use your help insupporting the show If you could
rate the show five stars, leavea loving review, share this
(17:12):
episode with as many actors thatyou think would enjoy hearing
any of the topics I've shared.
You can buy me a coffee.
I am the creator, I produce it,I sound engineer, I record it,
I edit the episodes.
I promote the show on socialmedia.
So if you feel like you knowwhat that's a lot to want, let
me buy you a cup of tea.
I would accept it.
(17:34):
All of the links are in thedescription connected to my
Instagram.
You can also check out mylatest launch actor business
school and, um, you know what?
Let's just be sure, take careof ourselves to exercise equally
, if not more, self care duringa time of high stress and us not
knowing what our futures looklike as creators, as actors.
(17:59):
I'll be back here in two weeks.
Have a great weekend.
Hey there, welcome back to Acting Lessons Learned.
I'm Tawanna Floyd.
I share personal experiences inthe lessons I've learned and
still learning as a workingactor in Los Angeles.
So I don't plan to make everyepisode a strike conversation,
but we SAG Aftermembers are inthe early stages of striking and
I learned something aboutmyself this past Tuesday when I
made my first picket lineappearance that I bet you or
(00:24):
someone you know may also haveexperienced or been thinking of
or undergoing, and that iswalking the picket lines while
being an introvert, once thewriter strike was announced and
SAG Aftermembers were joiningthem on the front lines.
I have been feeling thisaversion to picketing, but not
understanding really why.
(00:44):
Possibly because it's beensweltering in Los Angeles or
because I just didn't know howto navigate all of the
parameters around parking,signing up, the best time of day
, who's going to be there, whocan I walk with?
But last week, when I receivedan invite from a trusted
colleague that she was gatheringpeople to meet the following
Tuesday, I took that as anopportunity to join the ranks of
(01:07):
union members, to walk insolidarity, to let these studio
execs know that I care Well, notthat they know who I am or that
they even care that I exist,but to join the numbers to help
make an impact.
Several days leading up to thisTuesday actually until an hour
before the 10am meetup time Iwavered on my decision to join
(01:29):
my colleague and the crew ofpeople she had rallied together.
I didn't know why I was beingso indecisive.
It wasn't a gut feeling sayingto stay home, just me
flip-flopping back and forth onwhether or not I should go,
since we were going to meet atAmazon in Culver City, which is
a little more west of LA, kindof like in the cooler parts,
(01:49):
because it's going towards SantaMonica, so it's not the hottest
part of town.
The studio is not in the valley, where temperatures hit triple
digits before noon.
I had the perfect picket lineoutfit planned out thanks to my
writer friend, who shared allthe proper approaches to safe
picketing, being that she was awriter and they had already
become picket pros, having beenon the line for almost two
(02:10):
months.
So there really was no reasonfor me not to attend.
There was going to be peoplethere that I knew.
It's not going to be too hot,it's close by.
But it wasn't until I was inthe thick of it all that I
realized why I had beenreluctant to strike.
It's just too much for me.
I found it incrediblyoverstimulating for my
(02:32):
introverted spirit.
While I was there I wasexperiencing low level anxiety,
a little disorientation, eventhough this studio was not the
most heavily protested lot, butit was enough of a crowd to
hijack my nervous system.
But I got to go backwardsbecause the low levels of
anxiety and disorientation hadstarted before I joined all the
(02:55):
union members on the picket line.
It started at home.
First of all, I had a sleeplessnight, an anomaly for me.
I typically sleep fast and deep, but I went to bed at 5 am and
when I woke up at 8 am I wasgroggy.
My face felt puffy, I wasthirsty, I didn't have an
appetite and all of thisconcerned me because I knew that
I would be in the sun and Ineeded to be rested.
(03:17):
I knew that I needed to havesustenance in my belly and I
needed to be hydrated.
I needed to basically feel well.
So my back and forth on goingramped up and I was tempted to
use my sleepless night as anexcuse not to go.
So I sent a temperature text tomy colleague to see if she was
still going.
You know how you text to takethe temperature if someone has
(03:39):
changed your mind so you can useit as a reason to stay home.
Is that just me?
It can't be just me.
But nope, she had people comingand was already en route.
It was 9.30 am and they weremeeting at 10.
But I had just finished mymorning routine of meditating
and journaling so I still neededto shower, get dressed, try to
eat something and then driveover.
I decided that I was going togo, but I wasn't going to put
(04:01):
the added pressure on myself tobe there by 10 am.
So instead of giving myself thepressure to do all these things
in 10 minutes, I decided to goat my own pace.
I made a green juice, I ate abanana and a handful of nuts in
the car, a shower, got dressed,ironed my shirt and I was parked
across the street from thestudio by 10.30 am.
(04:21):
As I stood on Washington Avenuein Culver City, across from the
studio, waiting at the light tocross the street to join the
strikers, it occurred to me thatthis was going to be my first
ever union picketing protest,and so I started thinking about
you know, black people have sucha long, tumultuous history with
picket lines and protests, that, even though I wasn't born
(04:44):
during the civil rights protest,it's in my DNA Because my
grandmother was a part of theprotest and she would tell me
stories about it, and it'salways prevalent in our diaspora
because it was such a pivotalmoment in our freedom.
Black people have historicallyexperienced violence at
nonviolent protests, so even inthe face of this calm and quiet
(05:05):
protest happening across thestreet, I had a wash of fear
come over me.
I was a guy who walked up nextto me at the light and I could
tell he was there for the strikeas well, possibly a part of the
group that I was joining.
We engaged pleasantries, but hewas preoccupied with his phone.
Although my body was physicallystanding on the corner, my
spirit was having an innerdialogue with my ancestors.
(05:27):
I began to pray for protectionfor my mind and my body and my
spirit.
I blessed the land and thankedthe native ancestors who still
had me been there in a spiritrealm, and then I blasted the
entire city of Kovar with love,summoning my angels.
My spirit guides my grandmotherto be here with me now, and I
(05:50):
was so steeped in my prayer.
The guy standing near me waitingfor the light to change said
damn, this is a long ass light.
He brought me back to my body.
I was standing close to thepole and the light changed
button, but I realized I hadnever pressed it.
I frantically pressed thebutton, jokingly saying oh, I
never pressed the button, and Ialmost started to share a key
and peel sketch about notpressing the crosswalk button.
(06:11):
But I had a feeling he probablywouldn't get the reference as
he may not have watched a keyand peel show.
Also, I wasn't in a mood forsmall talk to explain it, nor
was I interested in trying towin his attention from his phone
.
We must have missed three walklights before I finally noticed
the light said four seconds.
It wasn't a long light.
We kept missing it because itwas a fast light, but since
(06:34):
neither the guy or I were payingattention, we kept missing it.
I came back to my present selfas we crossed the street, not
together.
The guy was walking behind mebut he was giving me this don't
talk to me energy, which wasfine with me because I'm not big
on small talk.
But I was curious to know whatdo I do?
So I asked him if he had donethis before and if he knew
(06:55):
whether or not we needed to signin.
He graciously, yet dismissively, said yeah and pointed in the
way to go.
There was a sag after tarpwhere I signed in, picked up a
t-shirt and a sign and beganwalking until I saw my colleague
in her group, and I was rightthe guy was with the same group.
Now, the group was mostlycomprised of people I didn't
know, but everyone was jovialyet focused on creating call and
(07:18):
response chants on a spot.
And then I saw one of my closefriends, so I saddled up next to
her and we had a friendly chatcatching up on life and industry
things.
I spoke with a few other people.
I was doing it, I was walking,I was talking, I was in the
thick of it.
It wasn't as intimidating as Imade it out to be.
I was responding to the chantcalls.
(07:40):
We were loud and proud, doinglittle jigs.
The temperature had increased,we were becoming sweaty, still
not unbearable, as unbearable asthe valley was, but it was
getting hot.
Over time, more people joinedour group and more people began
to show up in general, and thisis where I started to feel the
pangs of Anxiety.
(08:01):
Now, when I get this way, Ibecome aloof, like odd, like
awkward, almost kind of like Notapproachable, I guess I could
say.
And it's nothing against thepeople that are in my presence,
it's just, it's just my feelings.
I'm an empath, I'm an introvertand I kind of just like need to
need to have a little spacearound me because I get
(08:23):
overwhelmed and Over-stimulateit.
I noticed that there was acouple that I knew and I hadn't
yet had a chance to speak tothem, and it was getting weird
for me because we were in thesame group and enough time had
passed where I could have spokento them.
But quite frankly, they couldhave spoken to me too.
So I started getting in my heador making up stories that they
may think that I'm beingstandoffish or shady, but with
(08:46):
so many people around them, Idecided to catch them later and
I did.
They were by themselves and Iwent over and I said, hey, y'all
, I didn't give you a properhello, and then we chatted
briefly and Then it wasannounced that there was a
semblance of lunch being served,some form of vegetable pitas,
whatever that meant.
So I got on the food line.
I still didn't have an appetite.
I tried one, took a bite, butthrew it away pretty quickly
(09:10):
because I know what things willturn my stomach and I had a
feeling from one taste, one biteof that veggie pita thingy,
that it was gonna make me regreteating it later.
My introverted spirit wasapproaching the energy depletion
threshold, kind of like, Iguess, maybe an amber level.
I was on green.
Now I was reaching amber and Ineeded to go before I reached
(09:34):
the red part.
It was my cue.
I did well.
My first union picket line wasa success in terms of I came, I
saw, I chanted and now I hadenough and it was time for me to
go.
With so many people in our groupa lot of them that I knew in
passing, my friend who I knewwell, I had to peace out.
(09:57):
The group had swelled so muchand I intended to say goodbye to
everyone, but I was enteringthe red zone of my energy and
that's the space where my moodtakes a deep dive.
I'm no longer effervescent towanna, I'm introverted to wanna.
I don't want to be bothered byanybody to wanna, and the only
person who really knows thisabout me was my close friend.
(10:20):
But she was, you know, she hadher daughter there and she's an
extrovert, so I can't expect herto come and take care of me.
I actually would not wantanybody to take care of me.
I just know that I need to takecare of myself and leave, and
that's.
That's the thing about being anintrovert.
At least, when you know thatyou're an introvert, you know
your limits, you know when youcan no longer be social to
(10:42):
sustain saying goodbye toeveryone.
So, as much as I try to catchthose who are not surrounded by
a swell of people, I managed tosay goodbye to three people.
I didn't say goodbye to theperson who invited me.
She was perpetually encircledby a lot of people, naturally
because she had brought all ofus together.
But once I got to my car alonein the air conditioner Actually
(11:05):
the moment that I walked awayfrom the line and I was by
myself my energy bar started tospike up a bit.
So I texted her goodbye and Ithanked her for the invite.
I stayed for an hour and a half, but I managed to leave before
my energy hit zero.
So it was all around successand I left before my energy
(11:27):
expired.
As I was driving home I wonderedare other introverts wanting to
strike but fear their lifeenergy would be drastically
Depleted by the large group ofstrikers, or maybe the social
aspects of being awkward is toouncomfortable to overcome, and I
started thinking about thethings that I did to take care
(11:48):
of myself.
And if I had to share it, thisis what I would say.
Here's a couple of bulletpoints, if you will.
Social interaction.
Exhaustion is real forintroverts.
Picket lines involve continuoussocial interaction with fellow
protesters, passerby, possiblyeven confrontations with those
who disagree with the cause, andthis can be emotionally
(12:10):
draining for introverts, whooften require time to recharge
our energy.
I suggest setting time limitsfor social interactions.
Take short breaks, find a quietspace to recharge when needed,
which is what I did.
Communicate your needs to yourfellow picketers so they
understand your desire foroccasional solitude, or just
(12:31):
leave.
Then there's the dreaded smalltalk and networking.
You know small talk andnetworking can be challenging.
I think it's challenging foreveryone, but it's just really
not what introverts like to do.
Picket lines often involveconversing with new people and
explaining who you are and whatyou do, or, if you're like,
feeling like there's actorsthere or writers there who are.
(12:54):
Their careers are more elevatedthan yours and sometimes you
may feel like you're not worthyto have a conversation with them
.
Let's get over all of that.
We're all equals.
We're all out here picketing.
It doesn't matter whose careeris where.
We're all fighting for the samething and, quite frankly,
tables turn all the time.
That person's career might bemore elevated than yours today
(13:16):
and in a few months or a fewyears, the tables will turn and
your career will be moreelevated.
But it's not a hierarchy.
We're just here, fighting forthe same thing.
So keep that in mind.
But also consider preparing sometalking points in advance to
help you feel more confident orarticulate during conversations,
like somebody asked me how Iwas doing and in that moment, do
(13:38):
I tell them that my energythreshold is depleted?
Or do I just say no, I'm good.
And I went for the latter.
No, I'm good All thingsconsidered, but really that was
a moment for me to be authenticand say you know what?
Right now, life is good, but Iam feeling overwhelmed and
overstimulated with what'shappening, and so I'm probably
going to leave soon.
(13:59):
I'm going to say goodbye to younow, just in case of I peace
out without saying anything toyou.
Damn, that's good.
I wish I'd thought of thatbefore.
And then you have to alsoconsider that during the strike.
Being on a picket line,everybody is dealing with a
range of emotions and if you'rean empath, you pick up on all
those emotions around you andyou may find it challenging to
(14:21):
handle the intensity of all ofit and you may not even know
what you're experiencing.
It shows up for me as anxietyin my stomach and sometimes, if
it's like really concentrated,it's almost I can't breathe and
I have to go and remove myselffrom all of the people and just
sit quietly and take deepbreaths.
So be sure to acknowledge youremotions.
(14:43):
When you're in the thick ofthings, it's okay to take a step
back if you feel overwhelmed.
Overall, remember that everyonehas different ways of showing
support.
Your presence and commitmentmatter, even if you're not the
loudest person on the line.
Look for like-mindedindividuals who might also
prefer quieter ways ofcontributing.
(15:04):
After participating in a picketline, engage in your own self
care practices after picketingto help you decompress and relax
.
I knew that I needed a littlebit more time to recover and
process the experience, so Iallowed myself the necessary
downtime to recharge and reflect, to eat a great meal that I
(15:25):
really enjoyed, to watch a showthat made me laugh and just to
be in the privacy of my homewith the air conditioner running
, with no other people talkingor chanting or emoting their
energy.
Being an introvert doesn't meanwe diminish the value of our
contribution to a cause, and wedon't get to diminish our light
(15:46):
or ourselves.
In the meantime, we can bequiet and still be observant and
still be as committed aseveryone else.
Our presence and dedication tostriking makes a meaningful
impact, even if you only chooseto be there for 10, 20, 30
minutes or, in my case, an hourand a half.
(16:07):
Let's embrace our introvertednatures and find our own unique
ways to support the cause thatwe believe in.
Introverts, we get to supportthe strike in the best way that
fits us.
No apologies, that's it.
If you're an extrovert listeningto this and you're probably
like, really that's what youguys experience, I love people,
(16:29):
that's wonderful.
But, um, your introvertedfriends love people in a
different way, and so we justneed space and peace and quiet
to do so.
And look, if you have anintrovert friend and you know
they are trying to strike andthey may want to get out there
but not really knowing how,share this episode with them so
that they know how to take careof themselves and be a part of
(16:52):
it.
Um, and really emphasize thatthey don't have to stay long.
They can go and drive by, park,honk the horn, whatever it is
that they can do.
Thank you for listening.
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
Also, I could use your help insupporting the show If you could
rate the show five stars, leavea loving review, share this
(17:12):
episode with as many actors thatyou think would enjoy hearing
any of the topics I've shared.
You can buy me a coffee.
I am the creator, I produce it,I sound engineer, I record it,
I edit the episodes.
I promote the show on socialmedia.
So if you feel like you knowwhat that's a lot to want, let
me buy you a cup of tea.
I would accept it.
(17:34):
All of the links are in thedescription connected to my
Instagram.
You can also check out mylatest launch actor business
school and, um, you know what?
Let's just be sure, take careof ourselves to exercise equally
, if not more, self care duringa time of high stress and us not
knowing what our futures looklike as creators, as actors.
(17:59):
I'll be back here in two weeks.
Have a great weekend.
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