The Vs. Studio Blog

“A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.” -Franklin D. Roosevelt

This is my final post of 2020. #263. 5 days a week. Monday thru Friday. 52 weeks. I’m proud I never missed a day. (Includes 3 bonus posts…My attempt at a monthly newsletter highlighting some favorite things– “Fellow Traveler”–came up a little short.)

Thank you everyone for reading, for commenting, for sharing these posts with others, and for encouraging me. What started out as just a daily commitment I made to myself on December 31, 2019, has turned in to so much more. And that’s all because of YOU. Know that I am very grateful.

I also must give thanks to Seth Godin. Hearing him repeatedly extol the virtues of writing a daily blog made we want to try. Check his out Here. It’s excellent. And he’s been doing it 7 days a week for over a decade. Talk about discipline and commitment!

I hope this blog has helped you in some small way. I didn’t know if I would continue past this year. But I love doing it and am keeping it rolling. So you’ll be hearing from me again tomorrow, Friday. The first day of…

2021.

Whoa. We’re so close.

It can’t get here soon enough. I know.

But before you say “Hasta La Vista Baby” to 2020, take a moment to congratulate yourself on your grit and your resiliency. Realize that you’re much stronger than you were a year ago. Remember any thoughts, any lessons, any consistent practices you want to carry forward. And if there’s something you’ve been thinking about doing, now’s the time. Memento Mori.

I, and the rest of the world, can’t wait to see what you do. What art you make. What passion you manifest.

You’re ready. Get after it.

Earlier this year I wrote a post entitled “Look Forward To Look Back.” It was about asking yourself questions of how you want to feel in the year ahead.

Consider this post its companion piece.

Tim Ferriss advises that instead of setting resolutions for the new year, we should do a Past Year Review. The process basically entails reviewing your calendar or how you spent your time over the past twelve months. Ask yourself what people, activities and commitments triggered peak positive or negative emotions. Don’t judge. Don’t worry about what you should have liked or felt. Just be honest with yourself.

For the upcoming year ahead– and this is key–ensure you schedule more of the good and avoid the bad. That’s it. By taking action now, committing ahead of time to doing those things that give you joy, you’re set up for a successful year ahead.

The review and the schedule is all the resolution you need.

“How long must you wait until you demand the best of yourself?” -Epictetus

What hard decision have you been deliberately putting off?

Consider the rock-climber who comes up against a section of slick granite that offers no ledges or cracks to grasp. You have two choices: abandon the climb or risk a move like “the pendulum.”

Just like it sounds, the pendulum works this way: Reach high above your head, fasten a loop with a metal nut and slide the rope through the loop. Then climb down a few feet, dangle on the end of the rope into empty space and try to swing across the sheer section. It takes nerve. It takes guts. You have to lean out into empty space and vault yourself across the face of the cliff. If your lunge to a safe spot fails, you swing back and try again.

Once you’ve crossed through the pendulum, you pull the rope all the way through the loop and from then on, there’s no turning back. The loop is now out of your reach and the rope coiled at your feet. You only have one direction you can go.

Up.

“And you ask ‘what if I fall?’ Oh but my darling, what if you fly?’ -Erin Hanson

Just like mood always follows action, how always follows why.

How you do something is far less important than why you do something. You’ll figure out your how. Strengthen your why. Fortify it. Because that’s what will get tested by life and circumstance. Repeatedly.

Ensure that you have a hunger and burning desire to do the thing inside your head. No matter what.

The how will take care of itself.

When you decide to manifest your passion project–especially if it involves collaboration like producing a play or making a film or starting a business–you create the space for two sacred things to emerge.

Meaningful Work.

Meaningful Community.

What wonderful gifts to give yourself and more importantly, to others!

“You know what it’s like around here? I have watched television. I have seen Brochures. It is impossible to not All the Time be thinking about how other people have Lives, Jack. Other people talk to people. [There’s people out there that all they do is Talk to one another] and there’s me.” -from the play On An Average Day by John Kolvenbach

Loneliness is pervasive and running rampant right now. It’s the Holidays and we’ve been living through an unprecedented time of isolation.

Know someone who might be feeling this way? Reach out to them. A quick text or better yet a phone call checking in on them, saying hello. It will make such a huge difference.

Do it. Do it now. You’ll be glad you did.

When you do something you’re absolutely passionate about…

Best case: People love it in all the ways you hoped for and then some.

Worst case: They don’t like it. It’s not for them. BUT, they might appreciate and feel (even if they don’t express it and chances are they won’t) that a whole lotta love, care and attention went into what you were trying to make.

Worst case isn’t so bad, is it?

Go make your art.

“Recognizing that people’s reactions don’t belong to you is the only sane way to create. If people enjoy what you’ve created, terrific. If people ignore what you’ve created, too bad. If people misunderstand what you’ve created, don’t sweat it. And what if people absolutely hate what you’ve created? What if people attack you with savage vitriol, and insult your intelligence, and malign your motives, and drag your good name through the mud? Just smile sweetly and suggest – as politely as you possibly can – that they go make their own fucking art. Then stubbornly continue making yours.” -Elizabeth Gilbert

You put your whole heart and soul into making something and no one cares. Worse they hate it. What to do?

First, remember you can’t control their response. Nor should you try. It’s not up to you.

What is up to you is that you cared enough to look deep into your heart, found what you were passionate to say and why, decided to manifest it with excellence and generosity no matter what, and you were brave enough to share it with the world. Or as Teddy Roosevelt once exhorted, you “entered the arena”, you “dared greatly”, you “strove valiantly”, your face was “marred by dust and sweat and blood”…you did the deed. That’s all that counts.

Now, do it again.

Don’t try to play or convey a mood when you’re acting. Mood spelled backwards is “Doom.”

Mood always follows action.

“Sometimes, you just gotta say…what the f-ck.” -Joel Goodson, Risky Business

Feeling scared about attempting something today? Wanting to take a leap, but fear holding you back? Take Ben Folds’ advice from the Ben Folds Five song “Do It Anyway”…

You might put your love and trust on the line
It’s risky, people love to tear that down
Let ’em try
Do it anyway
Risk it anyway

And if you’re paralyzed by a voice in your head
It’s the standing still that should be scaring you instead
Go on and
Do it anyway
Do it anyway

There will be times you might leap before you look
There’ll be times you’ll like the cover and that’s precisely why you’ll love the book
Do it anyway
Do it anyway

To watch the music video (it’ll make you happy), click Here.