Acting and costuming: confidence boosters!

[Wysteria]

Hey all,

I've been browsing around and notice there are a lot of people with social anxiety on here. I used to suffer from that myself and I used to be paranoid that everyone was looking at me and laughing at me and talking about me. Until, that was, I found a strange cure.

Acting! And making costumes (cosplay) and wearing them to conventions where there are massive crowds of people, all wanting to take your photograph. Scary? At first, but let me explain.

Acting is the first step, because it teaches you to be another person. When you're on stage, you're not you. You're the character, and it's the character people are watching, not you yourself. Lock yourself away and become that person. For the duration of the play, you are not you.

Cosplay is similar and the next step from acting, at least for me. You're wearing a costume. It's not you people are photographing, it's the character. Immerse yourself in the character you are dressing up as. Become them. Learn their mannerisms, their accent, their quirks. Masked costumes are the best for this if you're a little shy because you dont have to worry about what your face is doing. It's all in the body language. When I put on my current favourite costume (Jill Valentine from Resident Evil, if any of you know the games), I go from slightly shy me to chain-smoking, brash, zombie-slaying cop. People say I am completely different when in costume to how I am normally.

So if you're a little anxious about being around people, try being someone else. It really has been a huge confidence boost for me and I think some of the tricks I've learned in my am-dram group and through being Jill at conventions is rubbing off into my daily life.

So who do you want to be?

[xhyperyogix]

nice advice! i love acting. it prefer being someone else actually! haven't done drama in a long time. maybe i should again!! got an 'a' at school lol!!!!

xx

[dubiousduck]

I definitely agree about acting (: I somehow managed to get myself the main part in a play last year (nobody else wanted to do it and then everyone looked at me because I hadn't said anything and I was practically blackmailed into doing it XD), and, although I was absolutely terrified before I went on stage, and thought I was going to faint... Once I actually started acting, it was okay. Because like you said, people weren't looking at me, they were looking at my character. So acting is a really good way to express yourself without feeling like people are secretly criticizing you. I also used to sing in front of people a lot (at school and at little music festivally things and stuff) and again, I was acting a part, so it was okay. So pretty much any form of performance art is good, I guess :]

I haven't ever tried cosplay or anything like that before, but I have to say it looks entertaining XD

[Sansaflowers]

I completely agree! I am currently training to be a costume designer. I've been to cons and cosplayed in the past and would love to do it more once I have the time to make more of my own costumes and take a weekend off! At uni we also do photoshoots of the costumes we make and I've modelled a few times for friends as they have for me. Usually the idea of standing in front of a camera with bright lights and everyone staring in my direction instantly makes me anxious, but it is so, so different when you are in costume. It's not even pretending to be someone else; I become that character and since I'm not me anymore, I don't have the anxiety that uncostumed me has. It's fun, brilliant relief! Which cons do you go to, Wysteria?