Amy Walker

Who Am I?

I remember lying in bed at five years old, running through the lines from my home-taped Mary Poppins VHS, trying to piece together what people were saying based on the words I could remember. Thanks to the rhyming scheme, I would roll the words around and round, recalling their shapes, even when I didn’t know the meaning.

I noticed that Mary pronounced things differently from Ellen, who was different from Cook, and of course Burt’s mouth was dancing away to its own beloved and inexplicable tune. It was a lot to sort through at an age when my limited vocabulary didn’t have answers for all of the phonemes. But it kept my hungry mind deeply engaged, and every time I watched it, I could sing and speak along to more of the film…

Their voices — and everyone’s voices — were such clear extensions of their personalities that I honestly don’t know how a brain could possibly separate the two. I couldn’t sit in French class and hear « la poubelle » and say « luh POObul ».

I grew up on South Whidbey Island — trees and water, a very creative place. It helped me grow strong enough for the part of me who needed the whole wide world running through my fingertips and heart. When my shy young self discovered theatre, performing gave me permission to be all of the parts of myself that I wasn’t allowed to be. In life, I was a weirdo kid who’s 6 years going on 70, getting asked “How do you know these things, you’re only 6!” On stage at 6, I got to be an adult. In school life, I was an awkward teen Question-Asker who was only asked out once in 18 years. But on stage I could be bold and fully embodied and dare I say it — actually feel beautiful.

As time went on, I gave myself more and more permission to simply BE everything I already knew I was inside. For a few years during the pandemic, I honestly lost the desire to act at all. It seemed pointless — why pretend, when I’m already living it? Gratefully, all my life I’ve cultivated a fierce commitment to honor my intuition. The creative flow that springs forth from within and knows exactly where it wants to go. I call that Soulfire. That flow has never stopped. It has only shifted shapes.

I leaned more into writing, and had the sudden realization that I’d always been writing. I’d written countless pieces I performed, plays and screenplays and a whole closet full of poetry and journal musings. I’d just never honored the writing as also part of my identity. So I leaned into that, letting go of everything I’d thought I was “supposed” to be.

And then of course, acting came roaring back in with a wild rawness that had been marinating all along.

21 Accents

I founded 21accents.com — Unleash Your Authentic Self — because training that empowers and honors your whole self should be available to anyone who wants it. The site offers coaching in accents, life and leadership, and business communication, with resources at every income level. We also offer free access for refugees and asylum seekers, with scholarships available for those experiencing financial strain. I no longer coach personally, but excellent coaches and a myriad of resources — by me and others — are always there for you.