Author Archives: thevsstudioblog

Energy and enthusiasm spur you on to make big plans and dreams. (And maybe a good strong cup of coffee.) Discipline, devotion, accountability partners and having good systems (and maybe a good strong cup of coffee as well) enable you to follow through on all those plans when energy and enthusiasm are low or nonexistent.

Be more proud of yourself when the day goes to shit and you still manage to get something done towards your dream as you are when everything lines up perfectly and you’re a productivity superstar. What you do even when forces seem to conspire against, is what ultimately will define you.

the flesh covers the bone and they put a mind in there and sometimes a soul, and the women break vases against the walls and the men drink too much and nobody finds the one but keep looking crawling in and out of beds. flesh covers the bone and the flesh searches for more than flesh.  there’s no chance at all: we are all trapped by a singular fate.  nobody ever finds the one.  the city dumps fill theContinue reading “The Loneliness Epidemic”

All ya can do is do what you mustYou do what you must do and ya do it well -Bob Dylan, song “Buckets Of Rain” “Comparison is the thief of joy.” -Teddy Roosevelt “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” -Arthur Ashe All you can do is what you canContinue reading “You Do You”

Voinitsky: “Akh, if only you could see your face right now. And the way you move. The laziness! You could care less…” Yelena: “Fine, fine, I’m lazy and I’m boring…That’s why we’re friends, Ivan Petrovich. We’re both tedious, boring people.” – Act One of Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov (Adaptation by Annie Baker) If you’reContinue reading ““I’m So Bored!””

“Expectation is the root of all heartache.” -Shakespeare “We listen with expectation, insight and point of view.” – Howard Fine “Our actions are the result of immediate needs and expectations…In rehearsals we must discover and test the actions that are needed from moment to moment in conjunction with what we expect from them…My passion forContinue reading “Fair Expectations?”

“Concentration was as much a capacity as it was a state to Stanislavski, and, as Orthodox mystics and yogis agreed, it could be trained through exercises. Take a coin and put it on a table. This is your object of attention. Eventually, these objects will not need to be tangible. Anything you focus on, realContinue reading “The Actor’s Big Three”

“I’ve been thinking about the difference between the resume virtues and the eulogy virtues. The resume virtues are the ones you list on your resume, the skills that you bring to the job market and that contribute to external success. The eulogy virtues are deeper. They’re the virtues that get talked about at your funeral,Continue reading “Eulogy Virtues”

“All the advice you ever gave your partner is for you to hear.” -Byron Katie “Anything you want to ask a teacher, ask yourself, and wait for the answer in silence.” -Byron Katie Before seeking advice from someone else, a useful exercise might be for you to flip the script… Ask yourself the question, “IfContinue reading “Do You Really Need Their Advice?”

If you’re seeking advice or feedback from someone, especially if it’s a trusted friend who knows specifically what you’re trying for, then one way to cut to the chase is to just point blank ask them… “If you were me right now, what would you do?” The response, even if it’s unexpected or seems outContinue reading ““What Would You Do?””