The Vs. Studio Blog

“If you feel unable to hit a note or faithfully paint an image, it’s helpful to remember that the challenge is not that you can’t do it, but that you haven’t done it yet. Avoid thinking in impossibilities.” -Rick Rubin, The Creative Act

“Allow an old man some parting words–just one observation–Do something with your lives, ladies and gentlemen! You must always take action and do something.” -Serebyakov in Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov (Annie Baker adaptation)

Doing hard things won’t make the next hard thing any easier. It’s always hard, especially when you’re making art. 

But it will increase your capability, boost your confidence and remind you that when obstacles surface, it’s all part of the process. Amor fati.

That way, when the next hard thing comes up, your attitude is simply…

Bring It On.

“You are the sky. Everything else is weather.” -Pema Chodron

“Empty your mind of all thoughts. Let your heart be at peace.” –Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tzu (Stephen Mitchell translation)

“Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle…Be water my friend.” -Bruce Lee

“The mind is originally empty, and only when it remains empty, without grasping or rejecting, can it respond to natural things, without prejudice. It should be like a river gorge with a swan flying overhead; the river has no desire to retain the swan, yet the swan’s passage is traced by its shadow, without any omission. Another example: A mirror will reflect all things perfectly, whether they are beautiful or ugly; it never refuses to show a thing, nor does it retain the thing after it is gone. The mind should be as open as this.” -Lin Ching-hsi

“Our mind is like glass of clear water. If we put salt into the water, it becomes salt water; sugar, it becomes sugar water; shit, it becomes shit water. But originally the water is clear. No thinking. No mind, no problem.” -Zen Master Seung Sahn

An empty mind doesn’t mean not having any thoughts. That’s impossible. 

Rather, I believe it means not clinging to your thoughts. Instead, just notice them. See them on a giant movie screen in front of you. Watch them go by. Let them come and then let them go. 

Just like water, you can’t restrict, control or hold on to your thoughts. But you can flow with them. And every once in a while, you can nudge them in the right direction.

Be water my friend.

“Looking at beauty in the world is the first step of purifying the mind.” -Amit Ray

“We should remember that even Nature’s inadvertence has its own charm, its own attractiveness. The way loaves of bread split open on top in the oven; the ridges are just by-products of the baking, and yet pleasing, somehow: they rouse our appetite without our knowing why.
Or how ripe figs begin to burst.
And olives on the point of falling: the shadow of decay gives them a peculiar beauty.
Stalks of wheat bending under their own weight. The furrowed brow of the lion. Flecks of foam on the boar’s mouth.
And other things. If you look at them in isolation there’s nothing beautiful about them, and yet by supplementing nature they enrich it and draw us in. And anyone with a feeling for nature—a deeper sensitivity—will find it all gives pleasure. Even what seems inadvertent. He’ll find the jaws of live animals as beautiful as painted ones or sculptures. He’ll look calmly at the distinct beauty of old age in men, women, and at the loveliness of children. And other things like that will call out to him constantly—things unnoticed by others. Things seen only by those at home with Nature and its works.” -Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention -Mary Oliver

Wanna change your mood? Get into a charged state? Have more gratitude?

Put yourself and the world around you, on notice.

A little primer…

Close your eyes.

Start with your thoughts. Notice those. Without judging them. Just notice.

Then, notice your body. How do you feel? Any aches and pains? Again, don’t judge the feelings. Just notice.

Notice your breath. In and out. In and out. In and out. Notice.

Notice your emotions.

Notice your five senses.

Again, no judgment. Just notice.

Then go outside and take a little walk. Notice every single thing you see. The sky, the birds, the trees, the falling leaves, the wet grass, the wind on your face.

Notice. Notice. Notice.

Repeat the above sequence as many times as necessary.

And read this beautiful poem from Mary Oliver…

Poem 133: The Summer Day

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean—
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down—
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

A good traveler has no fixed plans
and is not intent upon arriving.
A good artist lets his intuition
lead him wherever it wants.
A good scientist has freed himself of concepts
and keeps his mind open to what is. -Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tzu (Stephen Mitchell translation)

“I saw the angel in the marble, and carved until I set him free.” -Michelangelo when asked how he sculpted the statue of David

Scientists and artists have much in common. They both start with blind faith, a belief in something that doesn’t exist. They both are ignited by possibility and discovery. Whether that’s inventing a new molecule, writing a new play or carving a statue from a block of marble. They both are trying something that might not work in service of others.

The artist can benefit from taking a scientific approach to their art. Nothing is a failure. Rather, it’s an experiment.  Trial and error. Testing. Researching. Learning. Iterating. It’s all part of the scientific process. 

The answer, the art you see in your head, it’s out there. You just haven’t found it yet. You will.

Keep going.

“I could tell you that I’ve been tryin’ to uncover the abyss beneath my illusory connection with the world. I could tell you that it’s all written in the stars. I could tell you that I’m a reverse paranoiac. I am quite certain that the world is conspirin’ to make me happy. All three of which are true but it’s really simpler than that. I like to have fun, man. Fun is the fuckin’ gun, man.” Moondog in the film The Beach Bum

The reader or audience member should feel like you had a blast, a great f’ing time making your art. It can be hard, but it better be fun. Otherwise what’s the point?

Remember, when you have fun, we have fun. So resolve to have more of it this year. In all that you do.

P.S. – If Moondog isn’t enough inspiration for you, check out this excellent article on why having more fun is the key to a great life. How it will lead to you having more energy, more enthusiasm and more resiliency.

“In my end is my beginning” - T.S. Eliot, poem East Coker

“Sometimes the greatest challenge is to actually begin; there is something deep in us that conspires with what wants to remain within safe boundaries and stay the same… Sometimes a period of preparation is necessary, where the idea of the beginning can gestate and refine itself; yet quite often we unnecessarily postpone and equivocate when we should simply take the risk and leap into a new beginning.” -John O’Donohue

It’s January 1, 2024. New day, new week, new year. Lines up nicely, doesn’t it? 

What’s the project that’s tugging at your heart? Are you scared to begin?

Don’t be. 

Everything you’ve done before, including your “mistakes”, your postponements, your procrastinations, has led you to this point. 

You’re exactly where you need to be. 

You have everything you need to make it happen.

So, get going.

Make it happen.

Make your art.

Happy New Year.

Here’s a poem to inspire you (courtesy of Maria Popova and her wonderful newsletter, The Marginalian)

FOR A NEW BEGINNING
by John O’Donohue

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

“How can we offer the art it needs without blind trust? We are required to believe in something that doesn’t exist in order to allow it to come into being.” -Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way Of Being

“In the process of experimentation, we allow ourselves to make mistakes, to go too far, to go even further, to be inept. There is no failure, as every step we take is necessary to reach our destination, including the missteps. Each experiment is valuable in its own way if we learn something from it. Even if we can’t comprehend its worth, we are still practicing our craft, moving ever so much closer to mastery.” -Rick Rubin: The Creative Act: A Way Of Being

To make our art or do any kind of passion project, we need two kinds of faith: experimental faith and blind faith. What type we will call upon depends on where we’re at in our artistic journey.

At the beginning of a new project, we need blind faith. If per our definition, art is “doing something that might not work in service of others”, then we realize what we’re making, wasn’t there before. It’s brand, spanking new. Blind faith moves us forward and allows us to take the leap (encouragement from our family, friends and colleagues–a supportive community–also helps tremendously).

Once we’ve committed and entered in, what now keeps us going is experimental faith. Trusting the process. Knowing that our failures are not failures, they are merely experiments. We go down rabbit holes, we start and stop. We ideate. We pivot. We learn what’s helpful and not. What works and doesn’t. And why. We sort. We keep and discard. The answer is out there, we just haven’t found it yet. 

Like Edison, we trust that eventually we’ll make our light bulb. It just might take us discovering 10,000 or more ways of NOT making it, first.

“The heart of open-mindedness is curiosity.” -Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way Of Being

“Curiosity can empower you or impede you.

Being curious and focused is a powerful combination. I define this combination as unleashing your curiosity within the domain of a particular task: asking questions about how things work, exploring different lines of attack for solving the problem, reading ideas from outside domains while always looking for ways to transfer the knowledge back to your main task, and so on. Even though you’re exploring widely, you’re generally moving the ball forward on the main thing. You start something and you keep searching until you find an effective way to finish it.

Meanwhile, when your curiosity sends you off in a dozen different directions and fractures your attention, then it can prevent you from focusing on one thing long enough to see it through to completion. Curious, but unfocused. You’re jumping from one topic to the next, they aren’t necessarily related, your efforts don’t accumulate, you’re simply exploring. You start many things and finish few.” -James Clear

You start by being curious. Follow that curiosity. Let it take you where it takes you. Eventually you may decide to make something. 

Should you make that decision, then you finish by being ridiculously, intensely and laser-focused.

nostalgia (n.)

1726, “morbid longing to return to one’s home or native country, severe homesickness considered as a disease,” Modern Latin, coined 1688 in a dissertation on the topic at the University of Basel by scholar Johannes Hofer (1669-1752) as a rendering of German heimweh “homesickness” (for which see home + woe).
From Greek algos “pain, grief, distress” (see -algia) + nostos “homecoming,” from neomai “to reach some place, escape, return, get home,”

Originally in reference to the Swiss and said to be peculiar to them and often fatal, whether by its own action or in combination with wounds or disease.
[Dr. Scheuzer] had said that the air enclosed in the bodies of his countrymen, being in Æquilibrium with a rare and light air that surrounds them, was overloaded in lower countries with an air more dense and heavier, which compressing and obstructing the capillary vessels, makes the circulation slow and difficult, and occasions many sad symptoms. [Account of the publication of “Areographia Helvetiæ” in New Memoirs of Literature, London, March 1726]

“That’s all I have. I spent my life doing that. Collecting all that stuff, comics, books, and I just continued, even when it stopped giving me the powerful emotions I felt in my early 20s. I continued anyway. And now it’s all I have left. Knowledge and memories of stupid, futile things nobody cares about.” -Aksel telling Julie in the film The Worst Person In The World

Think I’m going down to the well tonight
And I’m gonna drink ’til I get my fill
And I hope when I get old I don’t sit around thinking about it
But I probably will
Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture
A little of the glory of, well time slips away
And leaves you with nothing mister but
Boring stories of

Glory days, yeah, they’ll pass you by
Glory days, in the wink of a young girl’s eye
Glory days, glory days
Yeah, they’ll pass you by
Glory days, in the wink of a young girl’s eye
Glory days, glory days -Song “Glory Days” by Bruce Springsteen

“In a few decades, you will be much older, you will remember how much younger you were today with nostalgia, and you will wish you had spent less time getting angry at things that never mattered at all, and more time treating the few people who cared with more kindness and love.” -Orange Book

It wasn’t as bad as you remember.

It wasn’t as good as you remember either.

Beware of nostalgia. It’s a disease.

It’ll keep you stuck in the past and outta the present.

Keep going. Keep learning. Keep growing. Keep trying.

Better days ahead my friend.

The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named
is not the eternal Name.

The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin
of all particular things.

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.

Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.

Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding. –Tao Te Ching, Verse 1, by Lao-Tzu (Stephen Mitchell translation)

“The scientist’s religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is utterly insignificant reflection. This feeling is the guiding principle of his life and work.” -Albert Einstein

Much like the Zen Buddhists would advise to focus on the moon and not the finger pointing to the moon, don’t worry if it’s a myth or not. If the miracle actually happened. 

Instead, focus on the story itself. What it might be telling you. 

Allow for the mystery. Be grateful for it. 

And remember…life, planet Earth, you breathing, you being alive at this exact moment in time…it’s all one giant miracle. A mystery. And in some alternate universe, who knows, maybe even a myth?