The Vs. Studio Blog

“The Sun himself is weak when he first rises, and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on.” -Charles Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop

Just like a power plant generates electricity, your job–especially when producing a passion project–is to bring energy to everything you do and everyone you interact with. You won’t find it in external sources, it needs to come from within. YOU are the power plant.

Nor should you expect that just because you found your passion project, you’ll now automatically wake up every morning full of gusto, ready to take on the world. You will have plenty of low energy days. Plan for that. You might want to engage in regular morning practices and routines to help get yourself in that charged state. Those might include meditation, exercise, journaling, gratitude, walking, etc… Whatever works for you. Find something and stick to it.

And for a little extra motivation, follow Marcus Aurelius’ advice to himself:

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive-to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”

There are no shortage of articles about someone’s process. How hard they worked. The steps they took. Their passion and unending dedication to the thing they wanted to create. These can be intimidating to say the least. Worse, they can cause us to shut down and never attempt the thing inside our head. (For example, reading that Daniel Day Lewis spends years working on a character and then stays “in character” for the entire film shoot might make you never want to attempt acting. Or quit if you are an actor.)

One reason these articles block us is that perhaps when we read them, we might think, “I should do that.” We don’t fully trust our own process and priorities. Because someone we admire or deem a success does things a certain way, we might feel compelled to emulate them exactly. Especially when we aren’t where we want to be. Inevitably when we realize we can’t live up to those ideals, we despair.

A mindset and syntax shift might help…

Instead of being intimidated, what if we let those articles inspire and inform us? Help us see what’s possible as well as all the different ways to do a certain thing.

Not, “I should do this.” Rather, “I could do this.”

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” -Stephen R. Covey

“Listening is about being present, not just about being quiet.” -Krista Tippett

One of the great gifts you can give another artist or anyone who’s contemplating a project is to simply listen. Listen to them without judgment. Without interruption. Without opinion. For as long as it takes. If they want your feedback, they’ll ask for it.

On the flip side if you’re the talker (assuming you’ve first thought things through and/or wrote down), a generous thing you can do is give the listener a heads up. Say something like, “I need to talk something out. Is it cool if I just download with you?”

These dual, generous habits serve us well. And will save a lot of time and unnecessary aggravation.

P.S. – Throw this advice away when you’re acting opposite someone. Yes, you absolutely must listen. But listen WITH judgment, opinion, expectation and a strong desire to interrupt. That means you’re active and on the road to conflict. Which then makes the scene alive. And really interesting to watch.

“I fear not the person who has practiced ten thousand kicks, one time. I fear the person who has practiced one kick, ten thousand times.” -Bruce Lee

“Ready, Fire, Aim” is a popular business book. While I haven’t read it, the title alone is catchy and offers good advice.

How often do we not start something because the conditions aren’t “perfect” from the get-go?

What if instead, we just start regardless of outlook, but then resolve to constantly evaluate and change as needed? We have faith and belief that as long as we’re passionate, that we’re pot committed, that we’re doing it for the right reasons, that we’re flexible and open-minded (best idea wins) and have a strong why, we will attract the right people and other things necessary to complete our undertaking.

But we need to start.

Put another way…what if we strive for 10,000 iterations. Not 10,000 hours.

And so should we.

I watched this terrific documentary (available on Amazon prime) about the sculptor Elizabeth King. Similar to the Bill Cunningham documentary I wrote about and loved, it’s all about an artist’s process and how one is called to something. Combining intimate figurative sculpture, stop frame animation and the ritual of theater is her vocation. Clearly she’s not doing it for money or accolades. Even her choice of materials is not “efficient.” But it’s what she sees in her head and is compelled to make. Watching her process is riveting.

My favorite part occurs at the end. She stops mid-sentence when talking about her work to observe a Red-tailed Hawk flying above. Her joy at seeing it is infections and talk about being in the moment!

What would happen if we took the amateur spirit–for me that’s process, doing something for no other reason than the pure love of the thing itself–and married it with the rigor, the discipline and consistency required of the professional?

What would we choose to create?

How far would we take it?

“A mirror will reflect all things perfectly, whether they are beautiful or ugly; it never refuses to show a thing, nor does it retain the thing after it is gone. The mind should be as open as this.” -Lin Ching-hsi

One of the great reasons for art is that it’s a mirror. We can hold it up to ourselves and the world and regardless of whether we like the image reflected back, it tells the truth.

The decision to act or make a change based on this truth is entirely up to us.

Advice for the stage actor…

What happens when you have a rough performance night? Meaning you didn’t feel good about your work. You felt like you pushed, you “schmacted”, you relied solely on craft and technique to get you through, you were constantly “in and out”, you were “not present”, etc…

And there are people–maybe close friends, family members and other people you care about–waiting for you in the lobby. They want to talk to you. Talk about the show. But all you want to do is get dressed, escape out the back door and beat yourself up for being a giant hack.

What do you do?

A primer…

Breathe.

Splash some cold water on your face.

Get dressed. Quickly.

Do your post-show notebook practice.

Breathe.

Remind yourself that right now isn’t about you and how you feel. It’s about them. They took time out of their busy lives, purchased a ticket, found a babysitter, drove down, parked and showed up on time to see this play. On this night. It’s a miracle they’re here.

Breathe again. Deeply.

Head out to the lobby.

Walk up to each and every one of them, shoulders back, chest out, head held high, smile, look them in the eye and say…

“Thank you for coming.”

LISTEN to whatever they want to tell you. For however long they want to talk. If they’re congratulatory–most of them time they will be, especially if you’re acting in something you’re passionate about–then thank them for their kind words. Don’t deny their experience because you felt bad about your performance. Again, it’s not about you right now.

When they’re done talking and are heading out the door, again say…

“Thank you for coming.”

Go home. Don’t beat yourself up (I know it’s hard) and try to get a good night’s sleep. Know that when you wake up, you’ll review your notebook, you’ll attack the script, go over every beat, analyze all the moments and you’ll figure out what you can improve on.

Remember that one of the great things about live theatre is that tonight, you get another chance to go out there and kick ass.

And you will.

And, just like the night before, you’ll finish the show, do your routine, head out to the lobby and say to every audience member who wants to talk to you…

“Thank you for coming.”

“Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe.” -Saint Augustine

Putting religion aside, I think this beautiful quote applies to making art or any kind of change. We have no idea if the thing inside our head and heart will work. We really don’t know what exactly the thing is other than a desire, a passion, that it’s deeply important to us. So much so that we’ve decided to try and manifest it.

Faith allows to take the first step.

Faith allows us to take the next step.

And another.

And another.

Unceasing faith and belief all along the way.

Then one day, the thing becomes real.

And we (and others) get to see and experience what we originally believed was possible.

That’s the reward for our faith.

Everyone wants to have arrived.

But the journey is where all the fun is.

P.S. – Update to this week’s “Why Not” post…I came across this wonderful quote from Pablo Picasso:

“Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.”

How fitting!

Oh, and Russel Westbrook was traded to the Washington Wizards. Here’s to new beginnings!