Author Archives: thevsstudioblog

“It’s more than a feeling (more than a feeling)When I hear that old song they used to play (more than a feeling)I begin dreaming (more than a feeling)” -Boston, “More Than A Feeling” “That time of year thou mayst in me beholdWhen yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hangUpon those boughs which shake againstContinue reading “More Than A Feeling”

“Sal, we gotta go and never stop going ’till we get there.’‘Where we going, man?’‘I don’t know but we gotta go.”― Jack Kerouac, On the Road When it comes to making your art, either go fast or go slow. Nothing in between will do. When you go fast, you’ve got energy on your side. YouContinue reading “Fast Or Slow”

So many of the greatest books ever written from the Bible to “Meditations” to “War And Peace” to “Man’s Search For Meaning” share a common theme. That is: we can’t control our circumstances, we can only control our response. If that’s true, shouldn’t we spend far less time insulating or distracting ourselves from circumstances? AndContinue reading “Circumstances”

“We can spend our whole lives escaping from the monsters of our minds.” -Pema Chodron, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times One of the central tenets of Buddhism is an emphasis on being present to our experiences in the here and now. The problem though is that .we’re almost always somewhere else.Continue reading “Be Present To Presence”

“There is nothing more important to true growth than realizing that you are not the voice of the mind – you are the one who hears it.” -Michael Singer, The Untethered Soul “We are all unreliable narrators, not just in the way we tell our stories to others, but how we tell them to ourselves.”Continue reading “That Annoying Roommate”

“When the archer shoots for no particular prize, he has all his skills; when he shoots to win a brass buckle, he is already nervous; when he shoots for a gold prize, he goes blind, sees two targets, and is out of his mind. His skill has not changed, but the prize divides him. HeContinue reading “No Prize”

On stage–because it’s all about conflict and playing objectives to the hilt–listen with a strong point of view. A strong want. Listen with intent. Probe. Listen to find the opportunities where you can CHANGE the other person. Actively listen. Want to jump in and interrupt the first chance you get. Off stage–or for most ofContinue reading “Two Modes Of Listening”

When we think of assets, we tend to think in economic terms.  Cash, stocks, bonds, land, buildings, etc…Numbers on a balance sheet. And they certainly all have value. But the most valuable asset you have as an artist and/or producer is trust. Plain and simple…Does your audience trust that what you have to offer comesContinue reading “The Greatest Asset”

I recently re-watched one of my favorite performances by my favorite actor, Jack Lemmon in “Days Of Wine And Roses.” If you haven’t seen, it’s a must. Lemmon and Remick are at the top of their game portraying a couple destroyed by the ravages of alcohol. I came across the original trailer for the filmContinue reading “A Simple Why Will Do”

“Art doesn’t have to be contemporary to feel contemporary.” -Jacqueline Stewart, Chief Artistic & Programming Officer, Academy Museum Consider that Anton Chekhov wrote this in 1897 (from his play “Uncle Vanya”)… You can stoke your stoves with peat and build your barns of stone. Well, all right, cut wood when you need to, but whyContinue reading “Contemporary Takes Care Of Itself”