The Vs. Studio Blog

Time is your most precious asset. Everyone’s vying for it. Especially the media right now. For more on this, read here.

Guard your time with your life.

How?

Be intentional. Ask yourself…”What do I need to do right now (especially self-care)? What change do I want to make? What art do I want to create? Who do I want to help? How do I want to serve?”

Write your intentions down.

If you go down unexpected rabbit holes of time, stop, take a breath, check in with your feelings, and look at your list. You’ve got important work to do. Get after it!

Fast forward one, three, six, twelve months from now. Assume things are relatively back to normal.

Ask yourself how you spent your time prior to then. What did you do? Who did you help? Are you proud of the thoughts you had? The actions you took? Were you strong and resilient in the face of uncertainty?

Let that inform what you think and do right now.

The word decision is derived from the Latin word, decidere, which means “to cut off.”

When you decide to do something, you cut off all other options. That’s it. You’re all in.

To quote the Irish writer, Frank O’Connor, you “throw your cap over the wall.”

Right now. Make some decisions.

Decide we’re all gonna get through this and come out stronger.

Decide to connect.

Decide to make your art.

Decide to learn something new.

Decide to be generous.

Decide to make peace with uncertainty.

Decide to make change happen.

Throw your cap over the wall. Narrow your focus. Cut off all fear and doubt. You got this.

“Choose not to be harmed and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed and you haven’t been.” -Marcus Aurelius

Stop searching for certainty outside yourself. It’s not some ethereal thing.

Certainty comes from within. From your own power to choose.

Choose connection.

Choose strength.

Choose resiliency.

Choose flexibility.

Choose generosity.

Choose optimism.

Choose to make your art.

You can be certain that you chose wisely.

Was reminded today of the stunning poem, Berryman, by the Pulitzer Prize & National Book Award winning poet, W.S. Merwin. Merwin was a seventeen-year-old freshman enrolled in John Berryman’s creative writing class at Princeton. A lifetime bond was forged.

It’s incredible advice to any artist. I encourage you to read it again and again. The last two verses especially resonate.

I had hardly begun to read
I asked how can you ever be sure
that what you write is really
any good at all and he said you can’t

you can’t you can never be sure
you die without knowing
whether anything you wrote was any good
if you have to be sure don’t write

Stop wondering. Go make your art.

Replace fear with action.

Replace worry with presence.

Replace panic with generosity.

I’m guessing you entered the arts because you wanted to connect. You wanted to reach people. You wanted to open their hearts. Maybe even get them to rethink their convictions and make a change for the better.

Your gift is your desire and ability to make that impact.

Great stories produced with excellence and generosity allow us to utilize those gifts.

You know what else does? A crisis.

Some people are afraid right now. They’re feeling vulnerable. They’re desperate to connect. They’re wide open. Even if they don’t know it.

Let’s use our gift. Call someone up every day. Just ask them how they’re doing. And listen. With empathy and generosity.

You’ll have made a HUGE impact.

And…Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Wear some green. Let a little luck of the Irish come upon us all.

When you make art, you have no idea how it’ll turn out. And that can be stressful. But you believe it will work out. Even though you have no evidence to support that belief. How can you? It’s brand new. It’s art…You just do. It’s a feeling inside. You believe in yourself. You believe in your fellow artists. You believe in the power of art to move people.

And because you believe, you take positive, productive actions that support that belief. You work hard and generously. You move forward. Day by day. You invite people to come see your work. Before it’s finished.

We’re gonna get through this difficult time. Absolutely. We will. Believe it.

Now, let all our actions support that core belief.

We’re gonna get through this. We’re gonna come out stronger. We’re gonna gonna come out with more humanity and love and connectedness.

Here’s how.

With…

CLEAR EYES. Not seeing what we want to see or wish we could see, but seeing things as they truly are. Without judgment or irrationality. Just perceiving what is. And realizing that what is, will change over time. Because everything changes. And we will perceive that change too.

That clear perception allows us to have…

FULL HEARTS. Hearts full of love. Hearts full of service. Hearts full of empathy, compassion and grace.

And with our clear eyes and full hearts, we simply…

CAN’T LOSE.

In times like these, it’s wise to heed these four words from Mr. Lincoln.

It’s also wise to heed in the good times.

That’s what’s amazing about live theatre. It’s ephemeral. It’s here today. Gone tomorrow.

Let’s lean into the emphemerality of life. Let’s embrace it.

We’ll get through this.

Because…

“This too shall pass.”

“This too shall pass.”

“This too shall pass.”

“This too shall pass…”