The Vs. Studio Blog

We’ve all heard the Spiderman quote, “With great power comes great responsibility.” But the inverse of this quote is also true.

“With great responsibility comes great power.”

When manifesting your art, your passion project, it may not be your fault why things go wrong.

But it should be your responsibility. That’s what being a producer, a leader, is all about.

And if you’re willing to accept the mantle of responsibility and make your art, then you’ll have the power to make a difference, to make change, to make things better for this generation and those that come long after you’re gone.

Before deciding to make any change–big, small, individual, societal–it’s important to first take a snapshot of where we were when we first decided to make that change. An honest picture of “here we are today, at this moment.”

We might not like what we see. That’s okay. We still need to capture the moment in time.

That way, after the days, weeks. months, years of hard work involved in making change, we can take another snapshot. Compare it to our original. And see the amazing progress we’ve made since that first day.

Seeing that progress will inspire us to keep doing the work.

“I skate to where the puck is going to be. Not to where it has been.” -Wayne Gretzky

To create a business: figure out what people need and create something that addresses that need.

To create art: figure out what you’re truly passionate about and create something that expresses your passion. Even if there’s a good chance it won’t work. Because of your courage, your willingness to fail, you might just make something that people didn’t know they needed, but now can’t imagine living without.

“To love is to will the good of the other.” -St. Thomas Aquinas

Imagine what our world would be like if first thing every morning we all asked ourselves what we could do that day “to will the good of the other.”

And then, not knowing if any of our ideas would work, we did them anyway.

Just because we cared enough to try.

“Let me know anything I can do to help” is a generous and thoughtful offer.

Even more thoughtful, generous and artistic…

“I noticed that you could use help in this way. Here are some suggestions to make it better. Let me know if you agree and I’ll implement these right away.”

“Meditate for an hour every day unless you are too busy. In that case meditate for two hours.” -Zen Proverb

Jut when we think we’ve fully heard someone out, that we “get it now”, that we’re ready to solve things, move forward, is the moment to remind ourselves that we’re not ready.

We have some more work to do.

More listening.

“The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us?” -Dorothy Day

Dorothy Day was a remarkable woman. Learning more about her life’s work, (To start, check out this New Yorker article and excellent PBS doc) it’s easy to understand why many are pushing for her sainthood. Though she never cared or would want any adoration or accolades.

She just deeply felt for the poor and wanted to help any way she could.

And like any artist, (she actually worked in the theatre in her early years, was very close with Eugene O’Neil and remained a prolific writer throughout her life) she had no idea if her programs would work.

But she did them anyway.

Because she was passionate. She was convicted. She had to do something.

She started out by deeply examining her conscience, her heart and listening to what it told her.

An inward revolution happened for her. Which then led to her outward revolution of kindness.

“You say you wanna make a revolution?” John Lennon once asked.

Let’s start by making a revolution inside ourselves. A revolution of our own hearts.

I wish I had something profound to write today. Something uplifting, inspiring, motivating.

I don’t.

Today’s a day where I wish I didn’t commit to a daily blog.

Because I’m struggling.

I’m struggling to make sense of all that’s going on in our country right now

I’m struggling knowing that many, many people are hurting and angry and desperate. And have been for a long time.

I’m struggling with what I could have done better. What I can do better.

I’m struggling with what exactly to tell my children.

I’m struggling with wanting to help, make an impact, but not knowing exactly how.

I’m struggling to write this post.

Perhaps you’re struggling too.

Maybe the first step is to just admit that we’re all struggling.

And then decide that no matter what, we will struggle together.

And maybe, just maybe, it’s in that united, struggling space where real change can enter.

It’s been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gon’ come, oh yes it will -Sam Cooke

We’re in tumultuous times. No question.

Lots of changes need to be made. Everywhere. Everyone.

One truism about change is that things have to get really bad before we take action. We first have to see, know and feel just how bad things are. Then decide to do something about it. Because we don’t want to feel that way any longer.

Perhaps that’s where we are now. We’ve had enough.

Another truism about change–and one that should give us enormous hope- is that change is not linear. The time it took for things to get this bad is not equal to the time it takes to make a radical difference.

For proof on a micro level, think of losing weight, getting out of debt or reversing any negative habit.

On a macro level, look at some of the before and after pictures of our earth during this Coronavirus slowdown.

We can change. We will change. And that change will have a giant impact.

Faster than we thought possible.

So let’s do it. We’re all in this together.

“Be so good they can’t ignore you” as Steve Martin advised.

Or.

“Get as many instagram followers as you can” as this American Theatre article discusses.

Which path will you take?