Sharon Van Etten Quotes

Do one thing every day that scares you.

I don't think anybody really wants to know their limits.

The one thing you learn is when you can step out of your comfort zone and be uncomfortable, you see what you're made of and who you are.

I am much more happy doing what I know I can do than what I am not sure I could do.

I find myself going to places where I really have no business, speaking to these people in a whole other field that I have no extensive knowledge of. But I do it very often because it scares me.

What I try to do as an actor is constantly find that, find ways to risk, find opportunities to fall on my face if it's going to be worth it, and then maybe I'll surprise myself.

Canoeing was hard and scary, and the wind could blow you across the lake if you did it wrong. After a year of not doing it right, I could talk to people and get them to sit up straight, take different kinds of chances, to breathe differently, to engage in the moment in the boat. And I changed them, and I changed me in the process.

Somehow, people get very nervous about leaving the comfortable life of rules behind and never take the chance to develop their own internal voice, to listen to their own consciousness.

I went to a motivational training course once, a course of self-discovery, and I found out after a week that my fear - it was not a fear of not being accepted - was a very violent fear of failure.

I feel myself becoming the fearless person I have dreamt of being. Have I arrived? No. But I'm constantly evolving and challenging myself to be unafraid to make mistakes.

I've felt emotions onstage that I never felt before; it has strengthened me as a person and as an artist.

It took me realizing that a broken heart has never actually killed anyone to find the courage to ask for what I want, in just about every situation. That was part of my own growing up.

We don't do things we aren't good at by nature. I wouldn't play basketball because I'm only 5' 1". Find what you enjoy - whether it's racing, flying a helicopter, being a doctor, or stitching clothes together. Once you've done that, you have the passion you need.

Gather experience... Look at what you should not look at. A feeling of anxiety is the sure and certain evidence that you should do this.

A lot of people simply don't realize their potential because they're just so risk adverse. They just don't want to take the risk.

High school students ought to seek out campus communities where they feel not only empowered to engage their talents, but also challenged to leave their comfort zones. The ability to embrace new opportunities emerges, in part, from a willingness to take risks and to fail.

Whenever there's a role that scares me, I get panicked and nervous. I know that greatness might come because I'm going to get out of my own element and comfort zone.

I think acting has helped me come out of my shell because when I play a character, I can't be self-conscious.

My biggest fantasy as an actor is to be in situations that make me uncomfortable and force me out of my comfort zone.

I think my whole life, because of where I came from, I had a fear of failure.

People always come up to me and say, 'you should do standup.' It's nice to discover things about yourself. That keeps everything lively and fun.

I don't know about living on an automatic pilot, but I've had times where I've decided to just test myself and my mettle, and for no good reason other than it's what life is. Even before I was acting, I had, like, one day in high school I decided to just show them my pajamas, just for no good reason.

I'm putting myself out there in a way I don't know if I ever have before.

I grew up on the stage, where you just throw yourself into projects and don't get in your own way.

I try to go with the flow, and I feel pretty comfortable with who I am. I feel courageous enough to go outside myself and try something new, like everything in life.