We recently connected with Lacy Hartselle and have shared our conversation below.
Lacy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?
As a human design 3/5 reflector, I’m in the business of being misunderstood. This makes me an intuitive, brave explorer who is here to reflect the world around me, where we are in and out of alignment. That can be triggering to those who aren’t ready to go deep with me. I am naturally good at seeing and feeling others, but I have struggled to feel seen myself.
What used to be my perceived kryptonite (feeling misunderstood) has now liberated me, especially as an artist. I’m a huge fan of Rick Rubin’s creative life approach that hones in on integrity and doing what you want to do for your own sacred self expression. My Chiron (greatest wound that links to your purpose) is in Leo in my 5th house – which amplifies the fear of not being seen particularly in areas of creativity, love and joy.
So my healing has carved a path of rebirthing authenticity and allowing myself to shine for the joy of shining, rather than to be seen and understood. There’s a delicious invitation to surrender, curiosity and playfulness when you’re accustomed to feeling misunderstood.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Acting, writing and photography fulfill my fluid career triad – while human design and tarot reading passionately ebb and flow in the margins. It took going through my Saturn return to find the courage to truly pursue anything other than just acting. Before the pandemic, I thought I had to put all my eggs in one basket to better assure “success”. Balance, alignment and spaciousness have become my north stars.
A year ago I created “Headshots with Heart” because as an actor, I’ve obsessed over my headshots for decades, and now I can obsess over other actors’ headshots! It’s kinda wild how a headshot carries so much weight in whether or not actors get seen. I’d struggled for years feeling like I couldn’t be captured, which initially fed a bullsh*t fear of being eternally flawed. Then I realized that soooo many actors feel this way and it plays a real game with your ego. My gift as an empathic reflector makes me the perfect person to take headshots because I am always reflecting peoples’ pure energies back to them. My priorities are to make others feel seen, special and purposeful because I’ve spent my whole life learning to do this for myself. So, my sessions at Headshots with Heart are truly filled with love, creative vision and self-empowerment. I’m so grateful I get to work with talented, open-hearted, dreamy artists every week, whether I’m behind or in front of the camera!
Weaving in the consistent income with the art of headshot photography has freed my lifelong pursuit of acting to be more playful again. I’ve embraced my dramatic shadow and all parts of me that are drawn to act. Without the pressure I used to put on myself and my idealized timeline, I’ve taken my power and ownership back as a storyteller. I know that I don’t “need it” and wanting it is enough reason to continually show up. Our dreams are a guide map for adventure in this whacky human experience. And we really do have everything we need within to realize them in reality. Everything is very vibrational and energetic. I’m also a Pisces ;) The above is of the below, the below is of the above. Our light is hidden in our shadow. Our purpose is hidden in our pain. Once I found (worked my ass off in therapy for a decade) alignment and more trust and regulation within, my career started shifting again.
In short, I lived and loved in LA for several years then liberated myself in Paris, ended up on Freeform’s reality dating show LoveTrip Paris (where I met l’amour de ma vie Bastien Buffat), got married and moved to France, moved back to the states a year and a half ago, signed with a great agent and incredible manager and I invest weekly in the craft at my favorite playground The 4th Wall acting studio. Last fall, I guest starred as Brittni, the tragedy-stricken wild child with a secret, in Peacock’s season 2 of Blue Ridge. I just had an episode of ABC’s Will Trent come out where I got to showcase some range as Lola, an unsuspecting pregnant woman with a lethal twist. Turns out I often go for very calculated, suspicious roles and that keeps things interesting.
I also wrote a psychological horror screenplay for the all female production company Damp Girl Productions that we’re looking forward to producing in the next year. Nashville is such a magnet right now for creatives who take the initiative and get it done. I’m proud to be a part of this community!
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The sense of integrity. We can never go wrong with honoring ourselves (as long as no one is intentionally harming another, duh). Doesn’t everyone want to be a creative in some capacity? Whatever your spiritual beliefs are, something created us and I believe we are here to also create. With that perspective, everything is art – a home full of kids, a graphic design side hustle, a mentally and physically healthy routine of life that you’re proud of, a special bond and language with a pet, contemplating quantum theory, taking 30 minutes out of the day or week to do what you love just because you love to do it.
Art is soul work. Our souls are ageless, timeless. Kids instinctually perceive this. Your inner child protects the answers to your joy. What did you love to do when you were young? That’s your art that will enhance the alignment of this whole planet when you honor yourself by tapping into it, especially just for fun ;) Actors act. Dancers dance. Painters paint. Writers write. Own it, even if just for yourself. And stay curious about what else you might want to do because we are all limitless! Surprise yourself.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
My mental health journey has my magnified my resilience. A decade ago I was diagnosed as bipolar 2 and that really shook things up for me (I’d previously received the diagnoses of ADD/ADHD, OCD and anxiety/panic disorder as a kid). At the time it brought clarity, understanding and a direction for hope and healing. But as I mentioned, I am a human design reflector who also grew up in an unstable home of addiction with a bipolar father. My dad has a beautiful soul and this isn’t about him, but rather who I had become as his reflection. I mirrored dishealth and toxicity throughout my trying twenties. This manifested in a very young, misaligned and abusive marriage and quick divorce, a move to LA to discover myself, followed by a move to Paris to liberate myself, a decade of trauma therapy and more recently human design hypnotherapy (Tresa Rivera changed my life!). I even created a mental health podcast during the pandemic called “This is Temporary” because I had dealt with my own suicidal ideation and depression and wanted to help others know they were not alone when we collectively felt most vulnerable and disconnected. After 10 years of feeling and healing, I am no longer medicated nor do I identify with the bipolar diagnosis. Where I am now didn’t even seem fathomable to me a few years ago. I’m so fluid in my existence and sexuality, so labels haven’t been my favorite. I see where the mental health diagnosis journey served me for a time, but sometimes, like a well-trained actor, we perform the part we are given in life. I am grateful to have released any label that no longer serves me and my highest evolution. Those labels and diagnoses used to feed me with fear that I wasn’t capable of a life that neurotypical or “normal” people could handle better. Now, I understand that only I create my limitations. I’ve historically been a late bloomer, but my attention to my mental and emotional health journey has given me an invaluable, appreciative and empowered perspective on life. If I believe it, so it is.
Contact Info:
- Website: [email protected]
- Instagram: Lahartselle
- Linkedin: Lacy hartselle
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@lacyannhartselle?si=0ZWFOqZl4HzoZ_wA
- Other: www.Headshotswithheart.com
IG @headshotswithheart
IG @thisistemporarypodcast
www.IMDb.me/LacyHartselle
Image Credits
The disco ball reflector portrait is by @elevenafterphoto