The Vs. Studio Blog

Make the art you most desperately need and want right now. 

If you do so with excellence, generosity, authenticity and vulnerability, then chances are, it will be the art we need right now too.

“To err is human. To forgive divine.” -Alexander Pope

“Forgiveness is not weak. It takes courage to face and overcome powerful emotions.” -Desmond Tutu

“Let’s be kind to one another. We’re just wicked people living among wicked people. Only one thing can give us peace, and that’s a pact of mutual leniency.” -Seneca

“Among the most powerful of human experiences is to give or to receive forgiveness. I am told that two-thirds of the teaching of Jesus is directly or indirectly about this mystery of forgiveness: God’s breaking of God’s own rules. That’s not surprising, because forgiveness is probably the only human action that reveals three goodnesses simultaneously! When we forgive, we choose the goodness of others over their faults, we experience God’s goodness flowing through ourselves, and we also experience our own goodness in a way that surprises us. That is an awesome coming together of power, both human and divine. Eventually, I believe, we will all forgive one another because we have been forgiven, but let’s do it now and not wait until later. Let’s ask for the grace to let go of those grudges and hurts to which we cling. How else will we ever be free?” -Richard Rohr

“It is hard for us to let go of bitterness that seems to rise up in our throats over time like bile—even after we have said the words of forgiveness to ourselves, and to others. We struggle to forgive the same person over and over again. Our broken hearts crack again and again…. But forgiveness is God’s greatest gift to all of us, setting us free to live as the beloved children of God. Forgiveness, more than any other act, perhaps, makes us like God.” -Megan McKenna

“Forgiveness and grace have much more to offer any culture than we give them credit for. They are rare sightings these days, yet where I have seen them, when I’ve been offered them, I realize that they are not the weak, pitiful emotions of people who don’t value themselves. They are the generous gift of people who know their worth cannot be diminished or compromised. When we offer grace or forgiveness, we refuse the false correlation between our worth and actions. But I’m not speaking about the kind of grace or forgiveness that coddles or panders. We don’t forgive out of our own desperation for another person; we forgive to invite one another back into our highest selves, back into our commitments. There is an acknowledgement that someone has been wronged or hurt, and forgiveness extends the possibility of trying again. I have struggled my way through forgiveness and grace, just as most of us struggle with them because of how often our hearts have been broken and how often we’ve been betrayed. I think it’s important for us to heed the warnings. Maybe eventually we can all learn to forgive far and wide, the way religions have taught. But for me to think of it that way is too tall an order. Maybe now we only need to forgive close in, nearby: the people in our families and our communities, the people we struggle alongside. Rather than denounce mercy, we try it in small doses. From there maybe forgiveness and grace spread and cover us, become more of the air we breathe.” -Prentice Hemphill

True forgiveness is hard. It’s not linear. It doesn’t often feel good (especially in the moment). And it’s a process. One that takes time and constancy of effort. Enter into it with eyes (and hearts) wide open.

But if you’re willing to commit to the process, it can transform lives (yours and theirs). 

And maybe the person you most need to forgive right now is yourself. Go easy on you (and them).

“In the Cherokee language, this concept of well-being is often called Eloheh (pronounced ay-luh-HAY). The Cherokee meaning of well-being is deep and resonant, and it is hard to capture in English. Eloheh means “well-being,” yes, but it means so much more. Eloheh—what some traditions call the Harmony Way—describes a state of being when all is as it should be or as it was created to be. Eloheh means that people are at peace, not at war; that the Earth is being cared for and producing in abundance, so no one goes hungry. Eloheh means people are treating each other fairly and that no one is a stranger for very long.” -Randy and Edith Woodley, introduction to Journey to Eloheh: How Indigenous Values Lead Us to Harmony and Well-Being

In honor of Indigenous Peoples Day, below is an incredible poem from Chief Tecumseh entitled “So Live Your Life.” (H/T to the always excellent Poetic Outlaws for providing.) It contains all the guidance we need to live in Eloheh with one another…

So live your life that the fear of death 
can never enter your heart. Trouble 
no one about their religion; respect 
others in their view, and demand 
that they respect yours. 

Love your life, perfect your life, 
beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long 
and its purpose in the service 
of your people. 

Prepare a noble death song for the day 
when you go over the great divide.

Always give a word or a sign of salute 
when meeting or passing a friend, even 
a stranger, when in a lonely place. 

Show respect to all people 
and grovel to none.

When you arise in the morning 
give thanks for the food and for 
the joy of living. 

If you see no reason for giving thanks, 
the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse 
no one and no thing, for abuse turns 
the wise ones to fools and robs 
the spirit of its vision.

When it comes your time to die, 
be not like those whose hearts 
are filled with the fear of death, 
so that when their time comes 
they weep and pray for a little 
more time to live their lives 
over again in a 
different way. 

Sing your death song and die 
like a hero going home.

A zero-sum game is a mathematical representation in game theory and economic theory of a situation that involves two competing entities, where the result is an advantage for one side and an equivalent loss for the other. In other words, player one’s gain is equivalent to player two’s loss, with the result that the net improvement in benefit of the game is zero. (source: Wikipedia)

Some examples of zero-sum games include sports, chess, Texas hold ’em poker, bridge and most board games (In the financial industry, futures contracts and options are examples). Those games are fun to play and can be exciting to watch. They have their place.

Life however, isn’t a zero sum game. Or at least it doesn’t have to be. Everybody can win or benefit in some way.

We first have to believe and know this deep down in our souls (have an abundance mindset).

Then we have to go out and play the game properly. Cooperation and collaboration are the keys to success.

For the director…

If you don’t know what to do in rehearsal (or if it’s not going well), do a line-thru. Bonus points if you do it lying down or a speed thru or both.

For the actor…

If you don’t know what to do in your private rehearsal work, read the script one hundred times out loud and learn the lines exactly as written. Bonus points if you read it two hundred times. (Hey if it’s good enough for Anthony Hopkins, it should be good enough for you too, right?)

The text. The text. The text.

Is your friend.

For the director…

A great exercise to create intimacy and build chemistry among your cast is to have them lie down next to each other on cots (or on the floor) and go through the entire play. Line by line.

Legendary director Mike Nichols used it extensively in rehearsals for his plays and even some of his films. Here’s Lee Grant talking about it during the original run of Neil Simon’s The Prisoner Of Second Avenue (excerpt from the Mike Nichols excellent biography, A Life)…

“Our only intimacy was onstage. Offstage, we had no relationship at all. He (Peter Falk) didn’t want it. He would go to the Art Students League and paint every day. That’s what he had plunged into as a way of keeping himself alive in New York.”

To bring them together, Nichols reached back to an acting exercise from his Chicago days.

“He made Peter and me lie down together on a cot backstage. We lay there, close to each other in the dark, and went through the entire play line by line,” with a prompter standing by in case one of them couldn’t remember the words. “It was brilliant. You know, lying there, you feel somebody breathe and you feel them cough. You hear when their nose is stuffed. We had to become a couple, and Mike helped us do that.”

Besides creating chemistry, this exercise eases tension, builds concentration and reinforces learning lines. A trifecta of awesomeness!

If you’re a teacher, the best thing you can do for your students is to convey your love and enthusiasm for the subject matter. That is far more important than just conveying your knowledge.

Knowledge is abundant.

Enthusiasm is scarce.

When we see it in someone, it sparks our curiosity. Which is exactly what you want to do for your students.

Put another way…When you’re lit up, they’re lit up.

“Then God looked over all He had made, and He saw that it was very good!” -Genesis 1:31

“Art must be an expression of love or it is nothing.” -Marc Chagall

“That’s what I consider true generosity: You give your all and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing.” -Simone de Beauvoir

“Every minute of every hour of every day you are making the world, just as you are making yourself, and you might as well do it with generosity and kindness and style.” -Rebecca Solnit

“Art is the work of a human being- something a person does with generosity to touch someone else to make a change for the better.” -Seth Godin

“Making art is an act of love and making love to the world.” -Frank Gehry

Create. Make art, and strive for excellence in your art, solely because you love and care that deeply.

It’s one of the most generous acts you can do.

“Even if you’re not a teacher, be a teacher. Share your ideas. Don’t take for granted your education. Rejoice in what you learn and spray it.” -Tim Minchin

If you really want to test how well you know something, then go try and teach it to a child. 

If they don’t understand it (no matter how complex it is), you don’t fully understand it. Keep learning.

P.S. – The Feynman Technique and “Plus, Minus, Equals“

“People pay to see others believe in themselves.” -Kim Gordon

Maybe the only difference between where you are now and where you want to be is the power of your belief.

Do you really believe in yourself and what you want to do?

If yes, keep going.

If not, get off the stage and make room for someone who does.