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Trust your journey.
That’s what Amy Karl had to do on her wild ride trying to make it as an actress in Hollywood, as documented in her entertaining and readable memoir, He Put My Buddha in the Freezer (read our full review here). That’s also the advice she would like to impart on readers who may have doubts along their path to fulfilling their own life dreams.
In a recent Q&A, the author shed more light on her Hollywood escapades and some of the concepts that helped get her through.
Q: In your memoir, we experience the highs and lows of a quest for love and fame. One word that seems apt to describe you is “resilient.” Where does that resilience come from and where has it taken you in your life?
A: Wow, I appreciate you describing me as “resilient” after reading my book. I was worried you might describe me as “disaster!” But in truth, I think much of my resilience comes from great parents and my family of hens. We have a lot of strong females in my family, so that has always been my example.
I also believe that my Kundalini yoga practice hands-down contributes to my resilience. Having Kundalini yoga in your life is like having a toolbox with all the right gadgets at your side. “A little depressed?” “Ah, I think I will pull out a little breath of fire from my toolbox today!” “A little anxious?” “Oh, I have just the right three-minute meditation to shift me out of that nonsense!” Seriously, Kundalini is no joke.
Q: Speaking of Kundalini, as a practitioner, you’ve chosen to organize your book by chakras as well as love interests. It’s a unique way to process your experiences and assign meaning of some sort. What was it like to work with this structure?
A: When I first started writing this book, I had not yet embarked on my Kundalini yoga practice. I didn’t even know what a “chakra” was. It wasn’t until my fifth draft and after going through my yoga teacher’s training program that I realized (a big “aha” moment) that each guy I had moved “onto” (literally) aligned with each chakra I had “ascended” into. So technically, I was able to very organically superimpose this structure over my book later. Of course, it took some tweaking and another rewrite, but it was all organically there on the page. Talk about surrendering to the idea: “trust the journey,” which is really what my book is about at its heart. Sometimes you can’t plan things; they just happen.
Q: Do you think some of the obstacles you faced as a young actress trying to make it in Hollywood are less or more so today for those on a similar journey? Or are they different obstacles altogether?
A: I believe the journey anyone is on, whether it’s a journey to become an actress or a trader on Wall Street, is always an internal journey. So whatever voices you are battling in your journey to becoming anything pretty much defines how hard or easy it’s going to be. But on a very literal level, I don’t think making it as an actress is any easier today than it was for me many years ago. Although I will say there are more shows today with Hulu and Prime and Netflix. So, hopefully, that means there are a few more acting jobs to be had. That’s good news. Plus, I feel like women of all ages are being embraced more now than when I was auditioning.
Q: Knowing what you know now about the Hollywood scene and what you confronted, if you had to do it again, what might you do differently?
A: LOL. If I could go back in time and do it with the wisdom I had today, of course I would do it all differently, but that’s not life and never will be. If we were all born with the wisdom we accumulate from falling on our face, there would be no reason to be born, because we would already have it all figured out. So, no, I wouldn’t do it differently because I couldn’t have done it differently! Plus, all the experiences I had and the process of learning and discovering along the way were too much fun and rewarding to change it.
Q: If you were to write another memoir about a different period of your life, which would you choose and why?
A: Now that’s a loaded question. I have a spiral full of a few good ideas. Unlike a biography, which covers a whole life, a memoir is just “a moment in time” one chooses to write about, and, let’s just say there have been many “moments” since this book. So I’m tinkering with a couple of ideas.
Q: What do you hope readers will take away from your book?
A: Mainly, I hope their takeaway is that it’s a journey for all of us. I hope my book helps them trust their journey a little more.
Q: What new projects are on the horizon for you?
A: I have a few ideas I’m working on and I have a children’s book, Kisses Left Behind, coming out as well.
Visit Amy Karl’s BookTrib author profile page.
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About Amy Karl:
After completing an acting program at the American Conservatory Theatre, Amy moved to L.A. and studied at the famed Playhouse West. She booked a small role in an independent film and several national television commercials. Between auditioning and dating, Amy balanced the ups and downs of Hollywood with her Kundalini Yoga Practice. Becoming a certified instructor, Amy studied with world-renowned Kundalini yoga teachers, traveled to India and taught several workshops in various cities. She currently resides with her son in Scottsdale and cherishes her best role yet: Mom.
