We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Timothy Gabriel. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Timothy below.
Timothy, we are so deeply grateful to you for opening up about your journey with mental health in the hops that it can help someone who might be going through something similar. Can you talk to us about your mental health journey and how you overcame or persisted despite any issues? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
Between having Tourette’s Syndrome, ADHD, and PTSD/Trauma, I have an interesting “cocktail” to deal with on a daily basis. Some days I have all the energy in the world and can accomplish every goal I’ve set up. Other days I’m lucky if I manage to snail myself from one corner of my room to the other without passing out along the way. I find humor in that; “finding the funny” with your mental health (in my opinion) is one part in staying mentally afloat. More importantly, I believe finding a personal, strong sense of purpose is what’s helped me the greatest. I’ve faced a myriad of challenges on both growing as an artist and dealing with my conditions. Regardless, there’s been a calling inside of me to achieve success as an artist despite having these conditions, and to hopefully inspire others along the way. I want to live a life of proof that it IS possible to achieve this success while having a “cocktail.” That’s what allows me to persist.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m a Voice Actor born and raised in Pennsylvania, also lived 20 years in Florida, and am currently located in Seattle, Washington. I’ve hit 3/4 of the US’s corners, so maybe I’ll land in Arizona someday! Similar to my travels, I’ve also bounced around in my artistic career from being a Musician, an Artist, and an Animator. Voice Acting for me turned out as the best fitting glove; between the endless variety of character and storytelling options, on-the-spot ability to improv and make speedy tweaks to performance, and a wonderful community of actors and teachers I get to call family/friends, the world of Acting was the obvious choice.
Acting has always generated an electrifying thrill for me. Whether I’m honing my skills in a private class, being my most goofball-self on “The Potchki Audio Chronicles”, digging deep into my personal being to generate a successful and dramatic performance, or screeching life into a pterodactyl while DM-ing a session of D&D, it’s all the same: I LOVE to perform and to grow as a performer. Most of my time so far as a performer however has been kept in the background or “backstage”. My current aim forward is to step out, stride towards the professional stage, create my demo reel (once ready, of course), and play to larger crowds. I’m confident in my skills, and in the great friends I’ve made along the way. I know I’m meant for this, and I’m ready to bet on myself.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1) One of my high school band directors, James Samz II, taught me the value of Integrity and how to, “Do the right thing, even when no one is watching,” through both his words and by example. There’s also motivational speaker Les Brown’s quote, “To be successful, you must be willing to do the things today others won’t do in order to have the things tomorrow others won’t have.” I believe these go hand-in-hand and owe much of my success to both.
2) Learn how to minimize, and don’t sweat the small stuff. Most of what at first might seem humongous, daunting, perilous, or scary is usually much smaller than it really is. Making yourself stressed out most likely isn’t going to help. Sure, Fear is a powerful motivation tool that generates dopamine, but do you *really* want to go through your whole life feeling afraid?
3) Laugh and roll with it. Be the positivity in someone else’s day. Fill your “cup” with joy and energy. There’s already enough in the world to complain or be miserable about. You deserve to allow yourself and others around you happiness.
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
I’ll admit, it feels somewhat embarrassing for me to say this, but learning how to better handle my fears of Rejection. It’s kinda awkward to say you’re an Actor when rejection is a *constant* factor with auditioning and that you struggle with it. This past year especially gave me a large breadth of insight into why I’ve had these fears and where they came from. It also gave me clarity on past struggles I faced when practicing Music and Animation. This journey of self-reflection was not at all easy, but I’m truly grateful of what small victories I’ve gained already by incorporating the lessons learned from it.
Much of Rejection, I’ve now learned, involves one’s own perception and sense of self-value. There are instances where we might see/feel rejection when there is actually none because we’ve either been conditioned to repeatedly experience harsh-Rejection, experienced some kind of Rejection-based trauma, had our self-esteem bullied into submission, or faced some other related past condition/event. I’m not a licensed mental health therapist/clinician, but speaking from my own experience, challenging these barriers has been well worth it. Acting feels easier to pour my energy and focus into now!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: tiptoestim
- Facebook: Tim Muller
- Linkedin: Timothy Muller
- Twitter: TipToesTim
- Other: Feel free to message me via Instagram and FB Messenger!
Image Credits
Duo Photo: -Carolina Ravassa and Myself Group Photo (left to right): -Eric Horowitz, Stef Watson, Marcus Cannello, Gwendolyn King, Myself, Steve Blum, and Vani Neelakantan
