Arts – Brynne Anika

How to Incorporate Multiple Passions into Your Blog

March 12, 2020March 12, 2020 by Brynne Anika, posted in Arts

I love blogging…of course. I love finding fashion pieces to take pictures of, I enjoy thrifting, and more importantly, sharing my heart with others! But here’s the thing: there’s so much more to my line of interests than just blogging.

The performing arts has been a part of my life way before I discovered my passion for blogging. I started singing and acting at age 10, and dancing at age 11. I attended an Arts Academy for Musical Theatre, graduated from college with a BA in Dance and Theatre, and I’m still pursuing the performing arts along with my blogging.

When I first started to blog, I always felt like I had to choose between blogging and performing. I’ve tried to keep my dance and theatre photos separate from my fashion photos… I’ve listened to podcasts and read articles from other bloggers who stress the importance of sticking to one interest for your blog. Picking and choosing what to share about has been so taxing. Not only does that allow me to share a small portion of my interests, but it feels so stressful to pick only one thing. What if I just combined it all?

1F578AEB-F930-4AD2-8645-4D615C90B0F0 — Photo by Jonathan Underwood

I’ve been told to have my own performing website, Instagram handles, and more… but what if I brought all of my interests together to create one big platform of creativity? As a newer blogger, it’s been difficult to figure out how to brand myself. I have so many interests and it’s been a struggle to combine them. I finally realized I was hindering my own creative growth by separating the two. So here’s the real question: how do I put them together?

I’ve started off by using my passion for dance in my blogging photos. I was trying so hard to make photos I took more pedestrian and ‘fashion blogger’ (whatever that means). I finally realized that taking with movement and dance is something that helps me stand out as a blogger, and a way that I can mesh my passions together! Duh, why didn’t I think of this before?! Now I’ve been working on adding movement to my pictures and incorporating my knowledge from the dance world into my blogging photos.

I’ve also been posting more of my performing arts endeavors on my Instagram stories. I used to keep little aspects of my life such as going to auditions and taking classes separate, but why not? It’s my day-to-day life and something that I constantly pursue, so I might as well show my day in the life!

If you are struggling to figure out how to incorporate multiple passions into your blog, I know how you feel! If you don’t know where to start, begin with simply talking about your other passion. Post a picture or an Instagram story of you talking about your passion and why you love it. If you play the piano, show one of the newest songs you’ve been practicing. If you enjoy cooking, share a recipe that you’re currently making. We are all multidimensional people and it would be impossible for each of us to only enjoy one thing. Sharing multiple parts of your life is what allows others to connect with you!

Bottom line: keep doing what you love, and don’t be afraid to share it! When you have passions outside of the blogging world, it makes your brand unique instead of getting lost in the crowd of other bloggers in your focus. You are a beautiful, multi-passionate human being! Keep shining in your pursuits!

xo, Brynne

Discontent in the Performing World

May 27, 2019 by Brynne Anika, posted in Arts, Life

One of my biggest struggles as an artist is the idea that where I am now is not good enough in my career. There is always someone who has done something better, who was cast, or who has something that you don’t. When I get into this negative mindset, it’s hard for me to push those thoughts away. I ask myself will I ever be good enough? Why am I here when I want to be there? What do they have that I don’t? I have one big piece of advice for you: it’s a trap.

Personally, I don’t see my artistic journey separated from my walk with Christ. If it were not for Him, I would feel pretty terrible about myself. One of the biggest things I have learned is that God uses our biggest disappointments as small shifts in another direction. He redirects us to a perspective we did not quite see before. The times where I have not been cast and been absolutely heartbroken have given me the opportunity to take on another artistic opportunity. The moments when I’ve gotten an opportunity that I wasn’t pleased about have led me to appreciate what I’m given and grounded me in humility. Those times where it’s easy to blame myself or others around me for unhappiness have only been graced and held in positive esteem because I have the hope and trust that God has something in mind for my future.

I was reading through 1 Samuel chapter 1 a couple days ago and was drawn to the story of Hannah. She was consistently disheartened because all she wanted was to have a child and was not able to give birth. She faced judgement from women around her because she could not conceive and cried to the Lord in disparity. But what set her apart in her trial is that she knew despite her situation, the Lord had power to provide what she needed, even if it was not at the time she expected. She said

“O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” (‭1 Samuel‬ ‭1‬:‭11‬ ESV

And because she believed, she was given a son. Had she waited years for this moment? Yes. Did she feel abandoned at times? For sure? Were there times that she doubted God had her best interest at heart? Absolutely. The amazing thing about faith is that even though we cannot see what the future holds, we put our trust in the idea that God can see the huge landmarks in our life that are out of sight to us.

To bring this back to my life, I want to point out some things. I had no idea that I would be working close to where I graduated after school instead of moving to a city. I also had no idea what I would be doing artistically after graduation until a month before I became an alum. I forget that I am human and I can’t control where I’m going to be at all times. Although where I am now is way different from my ideal goal, I’ve learned that it’s ok to have unexpected steps towards the dream you want to reach. It’s also ok to be confused for a bit. The more I settled into what my next chapter of life was going to look like, the more I realized the multiple reasons God placed me where I am for a purpose. Not my will but Yours.

Comparing myself to others in my career is setting myself up for failure, as it will to anyone who does this. We all have different paths because we are different people. I truly believe the places I go have a will far beyond my vision.

When you’re feeling down, just remember that your path is not meant to be exactly like someone else’s. You are meant to take your journey for a specific reason, and it’s going to be beautiful.

Life After School for a Performing Arts Student

January 2, 2019 by Brynne Anika, posted in Arts

As I’m entering the final semester of my senior year, there’s a lot of stress tied to this point in my life. This can also be the case for those outside of my career path, but there’s something about finding jobs after school that can be extremely stressful for performers in particular. I’m going to share a little bit of my ups and downs.

The final semester for performers usually means auditions, auditions, and more auditions. Like most performers, I get very nervous when I even think about going to an audition and in the past I’ve panicked a lot when I step into the room. This is obviously something I need to work through since it only inhibits me in the audition room. I’ve been told by many mentors that the more auditions you go to, the more normal it will seem and the less stressed out I’ll be. I really hope that’s what will happen to me. I got to start the audition process with the awesome company I worked with last summer. I’m so thankful to start my auditions there with familiar faces in the room. The scariness of auditions goes away when you know there are people rooting for you. Going to that audition and feeling encouraged is the next step to finding friendly faces at auditions where I won’t know a single person.

I’ve been asked what my plan is over and over again from all sorts of people, and to be honest, I have no clue yet. There’s no possible way for me to know the logistics of my life plan until I attend a million and one auditions. Some of these auditions can be for a summer theatre, while others could take me for an entire season. It’s all in the luck of the draw! I know for a fact that I will be going to Chicago to attend as many auditions as possible and show up to local auditions in the Midwest. And of course, I’ll be sending in many video auditions. I may not have a solid plan, but I’m really looking into traveling from regional theatre to regional theatre, auditioning for cruise lines with long contracts, or basing myself in Chicago for a couple years until I build my resume. My only problem with Chicago is there’s not as much musical theatre, which is my biggest love. And if I went to NYC right away, I would be in a pool of thousands of others my age who are hopeful to make it big right away.

I could think of many different turns my life will take me, but no part of me has a single idea where I’ll be. I may not even end up getting the jobs I anticipated and I have to be ready for that. This industry is super competitive and very tough, which is a reality that hasn’t quite hit me yet while being in school. I’m excited to start auditioning, pretty terrified, and I’m trying to go into the future with zero expectations. It’s so difficult for me to trust that God has it all together even though I can’t see what’s happening yet.

So these are my honest feelings about the future. If anyone who has experience in the musical theatre/theatre/dance industry has any tips, please let me know! I would love to hear them!

xo, Brynne