The Alternative To A Thick Skin

Without a thick skin, you'd better learn to heal fast.

Throughout my musical theater career, I’ve been told on countless occasions that to survive in this business I’d better develop a thicker skin. While that’s great advice, it’s just not going to happen. My skin is what it is. Permeable and penetrable.

The inevitable rejections, missed opportunities, and bruised feelings that I have endured in my show business career really did hurt. And I’m sure there’s more where those came from. In fact, I don’t know many people in musical theater who can honestly claim to be bullet proof. And that’s ok.

While I don’t now and probably never will have a thick skin, I’m proud to say that I do have skin that heals fast. Thanks to vital bandaids in the form of supportive friends and colleagues combined with lessons learned from past heartache, I can stay healthy and as a result, I can heal rapidly when someone or something breaks the skin.

So, while it’s unlikely I’ll ever develop a thick skin, being a fast healer is the next best thing.

Posted in Inspiration