The Vs. Studio Blog

“Make before you manage.” -Tim Ferriss

“Make movies. Not meetings.” -Mark Duplass

“I like to find (a) simple solutions (b) to overlooked problems (c) that actually need to be solved, and (d) deliver them as informally as possible, (e) starting with a very crude version 1, then (f) iterating rapidly.” -Paul Graham

“Remember that whatever discipline you are in, whether you are a musician or a photographer, a fine artist or a cartoonist, a writer, a dancer, a designer, whatever you do you have one thing that’s unique. You have the ability to make art.

And for me, and for so many of the people I have known, that’s been a lifesaver. The ultimate lifesaver. It gets you through good times and it gets you through the other ones.

Life is sometimes hard. Things go wrong, in life and in love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all the other ways that life can go wrong. And when things get tough, this is what you should do.

Make good art.

I’m serious. Husband runs off with a politician? Make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by mutated boa constrictor? Make good art. IRS on your trail? Make good art. Cat exploded? Make good art. Somebody on the Internet thinks what you do is stupid or evil or it’s all been done before? Make good art. Probably things will work out somehow, and eventually time will take the sting away, but that doesn’t matter. Do what only you do best. Make good art.” -excerpt from Neil Gaiman’s 2012 commencement speech at The University of the Arts.

A 2025 Artist Resolution (and every year resolution):

More making.

Less spectating.

P.S. – The full Neil Gaiman speech here and read the transcript here. Highly recommend.

“After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain.” -last sentence of A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway

“I lingered round them, under that benign sky; watched the moths fluttering among the heath, and hare-bells; listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass; and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth.” -last sentence of Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

“Where I am, I don’t know, I’ll never know, in the silence you don’t know, you must go on, I can’t go on, I’ll go on.” -last sentence of The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett

So maybe you’re Act One was just okay.

And Act Two was a disaster.

But hey, you still got time, you can give a dazzling Act Three.

Great teams, athletes and artists all share this in common:

They know how to finish strong.

Run what’s left of the race.

Go all out.

Give it everything you got.

Finish strong.

P.S. – Talk about a closing kick.

Loyalty is an admirable virtue. It simply means showing up and doing what you said you were going to do.

Perhaps you pride yourself on your loyalty. You always come through for your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc…

But are you loyal to yourself? Do you keep your own promises?

If not, why not?

P.S. – “The world’s worst boss.” One of my all time favorite Seth posts.

“Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” -Jim Rohn

“Art is not a luxury. It’s sustenance.” -Ethan Hawke

Nothing is more compelling than listening to someone’s enthusiasm and passion for whatever they’re working on. It’s rare to find those people, but when you do, it’s inspiring. Because you realize “Yes!” It is possible to feel that way.

As much as you possibly can, surround yourselves with such folks.

And realize that when you choose to find and produce your passion project, it is a gift. Not just the project itself, but also how it can inspire others to go and do likewise.

Like the infinite loop of grace, your enthusiasm is the gift that keeps on giving.

P.S. – This short TED talk by Ethan Hawke. For whenever you need a little enthusiasm boost.

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” -C.S. Lewis

“Humility is not a lowering down to the ground, as the word’s Latin root (humus) suggests, but a rising up and a reaching toward something we can never quite touch yet must trust is there. Some call this faith — faith that the world holds together, that our tiny and transient lives are nonetheless an essential part of the whole, that the choices we make within them change the shape of the whole, that love is the mightiest choice we could ever make and the highest form of faith.” -Maria Popova

“Humility does not mean self-abnegation, lassitude, detachment; it’s more a calm recognition that you must trust in that which does not make sense, that which is unreasonable, illogical, silly, ridiculous, crazy by the measure of most of our culture. You must trust that you being the best possible you matters somehow… That doing your chosen work with creativity and diligence will shiver people far beyond your ken. That being an attentive and generous friend and citizen will prevent a thread or two of the social fabric from unraveling…This is what I know: that the small is huge, that the tiny is vast, that pain is part and parcel of the gift of joy, and that this is love, and then there is everything else. You either walk toward love or away from it with every breath you draw. Humility is the road to love. Humility, maybe, is love.” -Brian Doyle, One Long River Of Song

Humility isn’t about lowering or thinking less of ourselves, though as C.S. Lewis writes above, we’d be wise to think of ourselves less often. If for nothing else, peace of mind.

Humility means trust.

Trust that you are a part of something much bigger than yourself. Some thing or some force that’s been here waaaaay before you were born and will be here loooong after you are gone. Trust in the mystery, awe and wonder of it all. The big picture will work itself out however it’s supposed to work out.

Yet also trust in the beautiful dichotomy that while it’s all so much bigger than you, your seemingly small and insignificant change can make a huge impact.

It can. Humility allows you to trust in that.

Go make your art.

Uh-oh, I feel a sports metaphor coming on…

It doesn’t matter that the only reason you got in the game is because you brought the ball. Or that there were nine players and they needed you for ten to run full court.

All that matters is what you do once you get in the game.

“If you truly do your best, and only you will really know, then you are successful, and the actual score is immaterial whether it was favorable or unfavorable. However, when you fail to do your best, you have failed even though the score might’ve been to your liking. I want to be able to feel, and want my players sincerely to feel, that doing the best that you’re capable of doing is victory in itself, and less than that is defeat.

I don’t think you could find any player to tell you that I mentioned winning. I wanted winning to be the byproduct of the preparation, and failure to prepare is preparing to fail. I always wanted them to have that satisfaction within themselves, that peace of mind within themselves, that they made the effort to execute near their own particular level of competency, not trying to be better than someone else, but be the best that you could be.” -John Wooden

“How you climb a mountain is more important than reaching the top.” -Yvon Chouinard

“Make today your masterpiece.” -John Wooden

I’ll take the “10” effort yet “4” outcome result, over the 4-10 every single day of the week.

It’s what you do when you’re not feeling it, when things aren’t going your way, that will define you in the long run.

Make your EFFORT today, your masterpiece.

Care about people’s approval
and you will be their prisoner.

Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity. -excerpt from Verse 9 of the Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tzu (Stephen Mitchell translation)

The Master does his job
and then stops.
He understands that the universe
is forever out of control,
and that trying to dominate events
goes against the current of the Tao.
Because he believes in himself,
he doesn’t try to convince others.
Because he is content with himself,
he doesn’t need others’ approval.
Because he accepts himself,
the whole world accepts him. -excerpt from Verse 30 of the Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tzu (Stephen Mitchell translation)

“They lose the day in expectation of the night, and the night in fear of the dawn.” -Seneca

When you think they’re gonna love it, they won’t.

When you think they’re gonna hate it, they won’t.

Release ALL expectations. Don’t be a prisoner to them.

Turn everything into a daily practice.

Make the work.

Ship the work.

Back to work.

Speaking of the feeling, one of my favorite questions to ask my fellow actors is “When did you first know you wanted to be an actor?” We even devoted a whole Vs. Tuesday Night discussion to this question. The responses shared were inspiring and rich in detail. Some experienced the feeling first-hand on stage. Some experienced it watching someone else on stage or in film. Consistent among the stories shared, was that once people experienced the feeling, they then decided “this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.”

For me, it was a combination of both watching and doing.

Watching: Chicago storefront theatre at its best. A production of Fool For Love at Stage Left Theatre immediately springs to mind. It left an indelible mark. I can still picture Eddie swinging that giant lasso overhead and the giant shadow it made on the wall. Or hearing the haunting, cackling laugh of the old man rocking in his chair, looking on at the doomed lovers. (Also a PBS broadcast of True West starring Gary Sinise and John Malkovich. I remember thinking and marveling at how much fun they were having. I didn’t know you could do that! It was just like sports!!)

Doing: A scene from Howard Korder’s Boys’ Life in an early acting class. I remember feeling out of body, thinking character thoughts, solely in pursuit of my objective: “To get this girl to fall heed over heels for me”. Or something like that.

I remember hearing the audience laughing throughout. Normally a sign of approval for the actor that the scene is working. That they’re in to it…But for me it was just the opposite. I was actually kinda mad at them out there. I remember thinking, “What are they laughing at? Are they laughing at me? None of this is funny.”

It was all weird.

The scene ended. Amazing response and applause. I hugged my scene partner (her name was Evelyn and she had beautiful, long, strawberry-blonde hair) and I walked back to my seat.

I was shaking all over. Very emotional. Couldn’t control it.

The teacher walked up to the front and said “I don’t do this very often. But I have no notes. That was beautiful work.”

I felt right then and there that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. To have this feeling again and again.

And I’ve been chasing it ever since.

Because let me tell you, there is no better feeling in the world.

P.S. – I’d love to know “your feeling”. Please comment or email me if you’re so inclined to share and thank you!

“And he said, ‘Because life’s on the wire. The rest is just waiting.’ I understood immediately why Charlie [Laughton] was telling me this story. It stuck with me for a long time. Life’s on the wire, man. That’s my acting, my life. When I work, I’m on the wire. When I’m going for it. When I’m taking chances. I want to take chances. I want to fly and fail. I want to bang into something when I do it, because it’s how I know I’m alive. It’s what’s kept me alive.” -Al Pacino, Sonny Boy: A Memoir

Al Pacino’s memoir, Sonny Boy is a must read for any actor or artist. There are so many good passages that I’ve practically highlighted the entire book!

One that especially resonated is Pacino describing the feeling he experienced on stage which compelled him to want to act forever…

And then, one night, onstage, just like that, it happened. The power of expression was revealed to me, in a way it never had before. I wasn’t even searching for it. That’s the beauty of these things. You’re not looking for it. I’m opening my mouth and I’m understanding somehow that I can speak. Words are coming out, and they’re the words of Strindberg, but I’m saying them as though they’re mine. The world is mine, and my feelings are mine, and they’re going beyond the South Bronx. I left the familiar. I became a part of something larger. I found that there was more to me, a feeling that I belonged to a whole world and not just to one place. I’m thinking to myself, What is this? It feels as though I’m lifting off the ground. I thought, Yes, this is it. It’s right there and I can reach out and touch it. This is out there, and this is what I know now is possible. All of a sudden, in that moment, I was universal.

I knew I didn’t have a worry after that. I eat, I don’t eat. I make money, I don’t make money. I’m famous, I’m not famous. It didn’t mean anything anymore. And that’s lucky, in this business, when you don’t care about that. A door was opening, not to a career, not to success or fortune, but to the living spirit of energy. I had been given this insight into myself, and there was nothing else I could do but say: I want to do this forever.

Can you relate to this feeling?

And when’s the last time you’ve felt it?

If it’s been a while and you long for it again, then there is a solution. Find a play or piece of material that lights you up inside, and by any means necessary, go make it.

Not only can you have the feeling again, but also your fellow artists, as well as the audience who are lucky enough to experience the feeling in action.