Sharon Van Etten Quotes

People think I look odd onstage. But the way I deal with being incredibly nervous is by concentrating really hard.

For many years, I didn't even like the idea of doing a one-person play. Public speaking got me past that. I've always been good at public speaking, but I never really enjoyed it. Then I started to really enjoy it, and that's made all the difference.

That is definitely something that I feel more comfortable with now. When I did 'Lord of the Rings,' it was something I wasn't quite prepared for, I didn't know how to deal with that sort of attention, and I kind of shied away from that, but I'm better at dealing with that now - a lot better.

It took me a long time to be alright with smiling onstage.

I'm very shy, and I shy away from people. But the moment I hit the stage, it's a different feeling I get nerve from somewhere; maybe it's because it's something I love to do.

One of the reasons people stop learning is that they become less and less willing to risk failure.

I didn't know if I had the music for it or if I could pull off the larger concert experience. Then I realized if I can just continue to be myself, I'll be all right.

I was terrified of being on stage, and I had to work very hard at a craft to get past that.

When I had just started 'Cheers,' my nerves were ajangle, to put it mildly. I was absolutely terrified. What you're learning is to not show the fear, and to ultimately overcome it so that the level of relaxation is commensurate with the level of tension.

Today I still feel like the most illiterate person ever to have roamed the campuses of Wellesley and Harvard, where I later transferred. I remain intimidated by all the books I haven't read, but over the years I've come to realize that being a student is a lifelong adventure.

I'm getting to a point where everything is becoming streamlined in my life. I'm learning how to stand onstage for two hours and play in front of thousands of people as if I am completely in the moment every moment.

I think the biggest thing was that I was putting pressure on myself leading up to Beijing. Now I am learning how to take that pressure off and seeing this as an incredible opportunity, but not like, 'I absolutely have to medal.'

I think I'm well on the way of overcoming a very big hurdle that's been in my way for several years. Which is trying to find a way to not let the insecurity of my profession get the better of me and make me crazy. I'm trying to find a way to maintain my own personal balance in the midst of everything.

When I got on stage, I would have a rush of adrenaline; everybody gets it. Normally after the first night it becomes more controllable, and as long as I could ride the wave, I was still in charge.

Performing didn't feel comfortable until I was about 17. I loved to sing, but I always said I would never perform because I was too scared.

I'm a much more chill person now that I know who I am and know my own voice, so I don't really get nervous with live TV at all.

It took me two years to walk around a chair with ease; it took me another two years to learn how to laugh onstage - and I had to learn everything.

The stage always terrified me. The live audience is just one thing I bewilderingly look back on and say, 'How did I ever participate in that?'

Every time I go to work, I feel like it's the first time; I feel terrified and excited and exhilarated and like a deer in the headlights. I think: how do I do this? And then it just happens. Like riding a bike, you know?

I think I'm always nervous, even if I play not on the center court.

I get stage fright really bad sometimes, so touring has been hard on me in a lot of ways. But despite that, I love performing.

It took me forever to get comfortable. When I first started NXT, we had promo classes, and I used to get so upset because I couldn't get in front of a crowd and talk. I was terrified.

In Scotland you can enter a comfort zone. I felt I had already developed a reputation there and felt it was important to prove I can play elsewhere.

The first time that I stepped onto a stage, it was life-changing. For once, I felt comfortable and in a place where I belonged. It changed my life forever.

At first it was kind of hard, because I had become used to just my phone screen in front of me. But sharing your songs with an audience is incredible.