May the good Lord shine a light on you
Make every song your favorite tune
May the good Lord shine a light on you
Warm like the evening sun -song “Shine A Light” by The Rolling Stones
One of the great and beautiful things about being a producer is you get to shine a light on projects and people that you feel are deserving.
And over time, you realize that the feeling you get from shining a light on others is so much more fulfilling than shining a light on yourself.
Either you’re all in. With your whole heart.
Or you’re not.
There’s just no in-between.
Read this phenomenal excerpt from David Whyte’s book, “Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity.” (H/t to Billy Oppenheimer for providing.)
After years of loving the work he was doing at an environmental nonprofit, David Whyte started to burn out. On one particularly bad day at the office, “I felt as if I didn’t have an ounce of energy left to do the work I had been doing,” Whyte wrote. “I was so exhausted, so burned out, I just went home.” That night, as he often did, Whyte met up with a close friend—a Benedictine monk named Brother David Steindl-Rast—to read poetry over a couple glasses of wine. As Brother David read aloud, Whyte tried to follow along, “but I had my day on my mind, and the mind-numbing tiredness I was experiencing at work.” “Brother David?” Whyte blurted out, interrupting the reading. “Tell me about exhaustion.” Brother David studied Whyte’s face for a moment, saw both the seriousness and the exhaustion in his eyes, and replied, “You know the antidote to exhaustion is not necessarily rest?” “The antidote to exhaustion is not necessarily rest,” Whyte repeated, making sure he heard him right. “What is it then?” “The antidote to exhaustion is wholeheartedness.” Brother David was one of the few people who knew that Whyte secretly wanted to be a poet, a path he’d stepped off of years earlier in favor of a more practical, sensible, respectable one. He also knew that suppressing what you really want in life is quietly exhausting work. “You are so tired through and through,” Brother David said, “because you are only half here.” The other half is constantly, invisibly at work—day after day, year after year—consumed by the task of pushing aside your deepest desires. And the strain of keeping up that kind of divided, half-here existence “will kill you after a while,” Brother David said. “You are like Rilke’s Swan in his awkward waddling across the ground…You only have to touch the elemental waters in your life,” stepping back onto the path you know you belong on.
“Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Fate whispers to the warrior, ‘You can not withstand the storm.’ The warrior whispers back, ‘I am the storm.'” -Unknown
“I was born for a storm, and a calm does not suit me.” -Andrew Jackson
It is said that buffaloes run into a storm. Cows run away from a storm.
At first glance you might think this is a metaphor about courage.
It is that, but it’s also about prudence.
You see, the cow turns away from the storm and moves with it, thus prolonging the suffering. But the buffalo, by heading into the storm, shortens its time in the storm. It gets to the other side much quicker.
When adversity hits, don’t run away. Turn and face it head on. Go right through it.
Be the buffalo.
P.S. – Speaking of storms, this scene. One of my all-time favorites!
This past Saturday, my son Callum and I attended the Lakers v. Nuggets game. It was probably the greatest NBA game I’ve ever seen live. Incredible plays, back and forth action, Crypto Arena was absolutely bonkers. It’s a memory we’ll always have together, and I’m so grateful for the experience.
For the Lakers though, it’s just another regular season game. One out of eighty-two. The next day, they had to fly to Houston and play the Rockets. As fun and special as that Nuggets game was, they had no time to linger. Gotta move on.
That’s what being a professional is all about. Whether it’s sports or theater or live music, etc…you need to bring it every single night. That’s your job.
Now the reason you should love and embrace this job?…For you, it’s just another game or show. For the fans and audience though, it may well be a night they will cherish forever.
What a gift you get to give them.
So, bring it.
Every single night.
P.S. – This clip. What a shot!
“How long must you wait until you demand the best of yourself? -Epictetus
Seriously, how long?
If not now, when?
If not you, who?
Go make your art.
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” -Joseph Campbell
You know you’re on the right track with an idea if you’re initially drunk with enthusiasm at the prospect of doing it. And then the next day, stone cold sober with fear at the prospect of doing it.
Be grateful you’re feeling something! Most people walk around not feeling anything (or trying not to feel anything)
Now go do it.
Etymology: “Coincidence” originated around 1600 from the Medieval Latin coincidere, meaning “to fall upon together.” It combines com- (“together”) with incidere (“to fall upon”), derived from in- (“upon”) and cadere (“to fall”). The term literally refers to events, spots, or properties that “fall together” or occur simultaneously.
“In mathematics, two angles that are said to coincide fit together perfectly. The word “coincidence” does not describe luck or mistakes. It describes that which fits together perfectly.” -Wayne Dyer
Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?
The Master doesn’t seek fulfillment. Not seeking, not expecting, she is present, and can welcome all things. -“Tao Te Ching” by Lao Tzu (Stephen Mitchell translation)
All kinds of amazing coincidences happen when you are clear about what it is you want and why you want it. (That may take some time and deep, inner work.)
The coincidences were always there. It’s just that the mud is removed and you can now see them.
The universe rewards clarity of intention (Angle #1) coupled with continuous action (Angle #2).
For the actor…
We’ve all heard the adage, “acting is listening.”
That doesn’t mean staring intensely into the eyes of your scene partner with all your might.
It just means, actually caring about what they have to say. And then taking what they have to say deeply personally.
If it helps, change the adage to “acting is caring.”
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players; -from the play “As You Like It” by Shakespeare
“The true philosopher lives his life as a dress rehearsal for death.” -Socrates
“Rehearse your death every morning and night. Only when you constantly live as though already a corpse (jōjū shinimi) will you be able to find freedom.” -Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai
“While I thought that I was learning how to live, I have been learning how to die.” -Leonardo da Vinci
“In the end is my beginning.” -T.S. Eliot
We’re not the authors of the play called Life and Death.
We’re merely the players.
So let us look upon every living day as a rehearsal.
For the big opening night. Death.
On that night when they call “Places”, we’re ready. We leave all our rehearsal work behind. We let go. We step out on that stage.
And then it begins.
“Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius.” -Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
“Talent is able to hit a target nobody else can hit. Genius is able to hit a target nobody else can see.” -Arthur Schopenhauer
“I enjoy being surprised – indeed, often ambushed – by a role.” -Jefferson Mays
“All would be lost, however, without Mays’ quicksilver brilliance — the way he can shift from savage irony to vindictive rage to godless despair in the space of a line. Salieri may be a mediocrity, destined to be a footnote in the short yet indelible life of Mozart. But in the coterie world of theater connoisseurs, Mays has earned a place among acting immortals.” -Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times
“I looked on astounded as from his ordinary life he made his art. We were both ordinary men, he and I. Yet from the ordinary he created Legends–and I from Legends created only the ordinary!” Amadeus by Peter Shaffer
Speaking of inexplicable genius, add Jefferson Mays to that list. His performance as Salieri in Pasadena Playhouse’s production of Amadeus was incredible. Otherworldly. Next level greatness. Easily in my top five stage performances of all-time. (Now he has two in there. This and his one-person performance of A Christmas Carol which I saw twice at the Geffen in 2018.)
Every element of this Pasadena Playhouse production is extraordinary. Some of the best production design across the board that you’ll ever see and the entire ensemble is in top form. But it is Mays’ performance that will leave you scratching your head going, “How in the world did he just pull that off?”
We had a Vs. Tuesday Night Live outing to see the show yesterday. Afterwards, out on the Playhouse courtyard, several people expressed exactly what I was thinking. Not only was Mays’ unreal good, but it’s only Tuesday night and he left everything out on that stage. He still has seven performance remaining this week! SEVEN! How will he pull it off?
Again. Genius. You can’t explain it. You’re just grateful when you encounter it.
That is, unless you’re Salieri.
Don’t miss this one. Here’s the link for tix/info.
The Vs. Studio Blog