Author Archives: thevsstudioblog

“You can rob me, you can starve me, you can beat me and you can kill me…Just don’t bore me.” -Gunny Highway, Heartbreak Ridge “Improvise, adapt, overcome” is the unofficial slogan of the United States Marine Corps. It was popularized by Clint Eastwood’s character Sergeant Thomas “Gunny” Highway in the movie Heartbreak Ridge. ( AContinue reading “Improvise, Adapt, Overcome”

Stop worrying if your visionIs new.Let others make that decision —They usually do.You keep moving on. -Lyrics from the musical “Sunday In The Park With George” by Stephen Sondheim The theatre world lost a giant last week, Stephen Sondheim. I’ve been reading numerous articles about his life and work the last few days, including thisContinue reading “The Seurat Seven”

“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” -John Lennon “The essence of philosophy is that a [person] should so live that their happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things.” -Epictetus Routines and plans are great. They’re necessary. They keep us disciplined and focused. But then there are mornings likeContinue reading “Flexible”

“Walk A Mile In My Shoes” by singer-songwriter Joe South (1970) encapsulates what it means to have empathy. It’s a tremendous song. Give it a listen Here. Lyrics reprinted below. If I could be you, if you could be meFor just one hour, if we could find a wayTo get inside each others mindIf youContinue reading “Walk A Mile In Their Shoes”

Milestones are always fun to celebrate and today I’m celebrating one with all of you. Post number 500. When I first started this blog nearly two years ago, I had no idea how long it would go. I had some things to say about making art that I thought were worth sharing. I was alsoContinue reading “500”

“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” -Philippians 4:11-12 “When life isContinue reading “Gratitude Is A Practice”

“If you are a dog and your owner suggests that you wear a sweater, suggest that he wear a tail.” -Fran Lebowitz Sometimes, the only way to fit in… …Is to fit out.

“As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame; As tumbled over rim in roundy wells Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name; Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:” -Gerard Manley Hopkins, poem As Kingfishers Catch Fire If you try to help a caterpillar breakContinue reading “Chrysalis”

What exactly do you want? What are you chasing and why? And if you got everything you wanted, what would your day-to-day then look like? Would it change any, if it all, from what you’re doing now? Consider this parable… One summer, many years ago, a banker was vacationing in a small village on theContinue reading “The Fisherman & The Banker”

“When you go through life with preferences but don’t let your happiness depend on any one of them, then you’re awake. You’re moving toward wakefulness. Wakefulness, happiness—call it what you wish—is the state of non-delusion, where you see things not as you are but as they are, insofar as this is possible for a humanContinue reading “Desire Or Preference?”