The Vs. Studio Blog

I was trying to help my younger son understand the difference between potential and kinetic energy. (Whether we like it our not, Covid-19 has made all of us parents into amateur teachers. I now have even more respect for the teaching profession.)

He and I were sorting through pictures of different objects at different points in their journey…a roller coaster, an airplane, a sprinter in the starting blocks, etc…when it occurred to me that when we embark on our passion project, when making our art, we harness the power of both kinds of energy.

You might be saying to yourself, “Uh-oh. I smell a metaphor coming.” Right you are! Stay with me here…

Think of your average, ordinary catapult. (Not the ancient ones used to fire hot, molten lead and other ammunition to storm castle walls.). The more we pull back on the catapult arm, the more potential energy we store, which then enables the object in the arm to fly further and faster, to have more kinetic energy. (Kids, don’t try this at home.)

Let’s take producing a play…Pulling back the catapult arm is akin to all the tasks we need to do prior to opening night. Casting, crewing, fundraising, budgeting, scheduling, marketing…it’s a long list. The more we lean into those tasks, do them with excellence and generosity, the further back goes the arm. More potential energy is stored.

Which then gets released and converted into kinetic energy on Opening Night. That kinetic energy, that intense joy that comes from getting to do our art, is felt by all. And that joy coupled with all that converted energy, carries us through the rest of the run.

Put another way, Newton’s First law States, “A body in motion stays in motion.”

One more thing…

At some point that potential energy does need to get expressed. Otherwise, it becomes a sad, cautionary tale.

Wasted potential.

Don’t let that happen.

Make your art.

P.S. – I love the song “Catapult” by Counting Crows. Especially this live version.

In Olympic sports where a competitor performs a routine for judges, a big factor in scoring is degree of difficulty. Assuming all things equal, an ice skater who lands a triple axel will beat out the skater who didn’t try. A gymnast who pulls off a triple double on the floor routine like Simone Biles did gets the gold. In platform diving, the “reverse one and a half somersault with four and a half twists” is impossibly hard to complete and thus carries a high weighted score.

Speaking of diving, who could forget Thornton Mellon pulling off the “Triple Lindy” in Back To School.

But I digress…

When evaluating our passion project, a good thing to keep in mind is its degree of difficulty.

Writing the “Great American Novel” or just completing a book to show our family and friends?

Wanting to top “Citizen Kane” or just make a short film to learn the basics of filmmaking?

Creating the next Apple Computer or just a business to put some extra cash in our pocket?

One is no more valid than the other. It’s just important to know what we’re trying to achieve and how difficult it is. That honesty informs our road ahead, the potential obstacles, and the length of time it’s gonna take.

And either way, whatever we’re doing, we do it with excellence. For ourselves, our fellow artists and the audience we seek to serve.

There are two different sources of fuel available when desiring to make dramatic change. Sometimes, both are necessary.

Anger or Hate is one that burns bright. It’s super charged and loaded with energy. It’s the booster rocket that breaks through the status quo atmosphere and brings attention to what must be addressed. We see it manifested in nationwide protests right now.

This fuel source eventually burns out however, and another one needs to takes its place. One that never runs out. One that nourishes and replenishes. One that always seeks to will the good of the other.

Love.

That’s the fuel source needed for the long road ahead. The one that will keep the rocket of change in orbit.

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.