The Vs. Studio Blog

“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.

“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.”