Author Archives: thevsstudioblog

“In my beginning is my end.” -T.S. Eliot “I’m going to count to ten. I’m here, you’re there….You know what to do…Welcome…Welcome back.” –Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight by John Kolvenbach Closing a show is never easy. All the relationships that are forged. All the pure joy that comes from performing. All the audienceContinue reading “Closing Weekend”

The basic economic law of supply and demand states that as price increases, people are willing to supply more and demand less and vice versa when the price falls. However, when resources are limited or supply is constrained, you get scarcity. When that happens, price goes out the window. (For example, the cost of toiletContinue reading “Scarcity”

“Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices.” -Ben Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac “Every night I try myself by Court Martial to see if I have done anything effective during the day. I don’t mean just pawing the ground, anyone can go through the motions, but something really effective.” -Winston Churchill What worked? WhatContinue reading “What Worked, Didn’t And Why?…”

What’s precious to you? What do you care deeply about? So much so that you’d be willing to examine it with brutal honesty and if needed, make a change?  In yourself? In your job? In your community? In your institutions? In your country? In this world? And if you find that you just can’t changeContinue reading “Care Enough To Change?”

If you ask someone, “Why do you do it that way?”  (You can ask yourself this very same question.) And the response is… “Because it’s always done that way.”  Or “That’s what everyone else does.” Or “It’s industry standard.” Be alert. That probably means it’s a time for a change. (Management consulting, a $250 billionContinue reading “Status Quo”

“Not-knowing is true knowledge. Presuming to know is a disease.” –Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu (Stephen Mitchell translation) “The bravest leaders and contributors aren’t worried about appearing afraid. It allows them to see the world more clearly.” -Seth Godin “I don’t know” is a powerful answer to any question. “I don’t know” is honest.Continue reading ““I Don’t Know””

“A woodpecker can tap twenty times on a thousand trees and get nowhere, but stay busy. Or it can tap twenty-thousand times on one tree and get dinner.” -Seth Godin, The Dip Thinking about sunk costs force us to contemplate the question, “To quit or to push through?” Seth Godin wrote an excellent book about thisContinue reading “Dip Or Quit?”

“How did it get so late so soon?” -Dr. Seuss “It is not that we have so little time but that we lose so much. … The life we receive is not short but we make it so; we are not ill provided but use what we have wastefully.” -Seneca, On The Shortness Of LifeContinue reading “On Time”

Ethan Edwards: “Well Reverend, looks like you’ve got yourself surrounded.” Reverend Clayton: “Yeah and I figure on getting myself unsurrounded.” –The Searchers D-Day: “War’s over, man. Wormer dropped the big one.” Bluto: “What? Over? Did you say ‘over’? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?Continue reading “Keep Searching”

“If we do not transform our pain, we will most assuredly transmit it” -Richard Rohr Everything that happens, everything we experience, especially our suffering, can fuel our art. And if we’re lucky, that art might someday alleviate suffering for others. What a mighty gift and privilege we’re given as artists. How we use it isContinue reading “As Fuel”