“New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.” (often attributed to Lao Tzu).

What a time it has been. With all of the global and social upheaval we’ve been experiencing due to the COVID19 pandemic, it can seem difficult to feel any sense of hope for the future. As an actor working in theatre, the last 18 months have been particularly precarious, seeing our entire industry brought to its knees. The arts industry was shaky before the pandemic but then to experience how much it shook our industry was particularly painful.

There has been such a push from people to try and get back to normal. But so many systems weren’t functional in the previous ‘normality’. What if we were to let go of insisting that this was another nail in the coffin for our particular communities, and instead, we shifted our perspective to look for new opportunities and new beginnings?

What if this intense time was the very thing that we needed to break free from our attachments to the old comfort zones, and dysfunctional patterns that we have been clinging to, and living out of? What if these events could give us permission to start again and build new systems that are inclusive, compassionate, and uplifting? Necessity is the mother of invention! What could we envision and manifest with a big dollop of hope and possibility?

What new beginning would you like to breathe life into?

Charlie Cousins
GCA Graduate

Charlie is an actor, director, and educator with over 20 years of experience working in theatre, film, and television in Australia and internationally. Alongside his career as an artist, he is also a qualified life coach and meditation teacher. He mentors and supports arts practitioners and industry leaders to navigate their way in their craft and careers with more resilience, ethical authenticity, and generosity of spirit. He runs weekly classes and has a series of videos on Youtube called ‘The Presence of Art’ which helps actors and artists to create with more sacredness and soul.