Author Archives: thevsstudioblog

One of the greatest gifts you can give another human being, especially someone who has made the brave leap to try and do something new, is your encouragement. Encourage them early and often throughout their process. They might not tell you they need it. But they need it. And want it. We all do. YourContinue reading “Encouragement”

You don’t necessarily have to go “into the arts” to be an artist. You just have to bring your art to everything you do.

As theatre actors, we’ve more than likely been part of one of those productions where the rehearsal process is a disaster, but then magically comes together on opening night. No movie portrays this better than John Cassavetes’ film, Opening Night. Gena Rowlands is other-wordly great. It’s brutal to watch at times, but worth it forContinue reading “Opening Night”

“Be so good they can’t ignore you.” -Steve Martin If you haven’t read Steve Martin’s memoir “Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life”, I highly, highly recommend it. It’s inspiring for any artist who cares deeply about their craft. Though I might amend his above sentiment to “Be so good AND consistent AND persistent that theyContinue reading “Be So Good”

“When you walk across the fields with your mind pure and holy, then from all the stones, and all growing things, and all animals, the sparks of their soul come out and cling to you, and then they are purified and become a holy fire in you.” -ancient Hasidic saying You can have all theContinue reading “Set The Date”

“A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.” -Shakespeare from his play, As You Like It I found this recent TED talk by Ethan Hawke to be very inspiring and on point with the mission of The Vs. Studio and this blog. It’s only about 9 minutes long and in it,Continue reading “Play The Fool”

“Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.” -Jerzy Gregorek Most of us loathe deadlines. But when they’re put upon us by someone else (i.e. work or school), we suck it up and make our deadlines. Because we don’t really have a choice. Arbitrary deadlines are so much harder. Because we can choose. They’re arbitrary.Continue reading “Arbitrary Deadlines”

Vision and passion get you in the starting blocks. Discipline, generosity of spirit, trusted collaborators, consistency of action, having a strong “why“, love of process, good habits, and systems thinking over goals thinking, get you through the long slog and to the finish line.

I’ve uttered this phrase a lot in 2020. Not sure the derivation. Not sure the why. I just say it. Out loud. And it’s strangely comforting. My guess is that its related to what the Stoics termed “The Art of Acquiescence.” Letting go. Acknowledging that while things are not what we want them to be,Continue reading ““It Is What It Is””

“Nobody knows anything.” -William Goldman We don’t get to decide how or if our art will be remembered. If it’ll have staying power. If we’ll have any kind of legacy. It’s not up to us. Thus, we should spend zero time calculating. Zero time trying to please. Zero time trying to reach a certain demographic.Continue reading “Don’t Calculate”