Why do I act?
My good friend and mentor Jon Hunter interviewed me today about my recent experience on tour with Mrs Krishnan’s Party.
It was so exciting to have such a vibrant conversation with my friend- it really does feel like we could talk for eternity together, stopping only to bathroom and snack breaks.
To end the discussion today, he asked me “why do you act”.
And just then the bell tower across the street did it’s mid day ring and I had to wait through about 24 dings before I could answer. I like to think it was the universe ‘chiming’ in to say it’s glad I act.
My answer still feels a little fumbled but it was something about the magic of feeling real feelings for fictional characters. If we can understand one character’s story then we can understand any person’s story. Being able to exert all my work and become the best I can be in the craft in aid of that is a worthy endeavor in my eyes.
All the plates spinning
I remarked to my friend today how much I’ve been enjoying reading and he said “Yeah, you know all the plates of life are spinning comfortably when you can read consistently”.
I liked it. Reading for me has been one of those things that seems to drop further and further down the list. In recent days I’ve noticed how much of a recharger reading is. It resets the mind, takes you out of life for a second in a very relaxing way.
And maybe you don’t have to have the ‘ all plates spinning’ in order to read.
Maybe it’s the reading that gets the plates spinning.
Vanya in Italy
My friend and I watched Andrew Scott’s Vanya on his balcony today. We marveled at Andrew Scott’s complete command and control of his craft.
He seems to simultaneously have a firm grasp on what he’s doing AND be not holding on at all.
It was fun to have a lively conversation about acting with my drama school buddy nearly 10 years on since we studied together.
Waving at Itallians
I’ve been sick the last few days and part of my recovery program has been reading in the sun here in the mountains of Liguria- I’m not complaining.
The house I’m in is right on a main road, so all day long people potter on past on their merry way like a Richard Scarry book.
A pair of French cyclists.
One of those silly little three wheeled trucks.
A modern car with tourists.
A local heading to a village further up the mountain
As seems to be the way here, some wave hello to me as they pass. Well most wave out to me.
It’s gotten to the point now where as I hear the vehicle ambling up the road I have this whole internal conflict, or meeting of myself.
Do I initiate a wave or do I just not look up from my book? Do I look up expecting a wave?
Am I feeling cheery and confident or sick (literally) and “engrossed” in my book.
Well I’m never so engrossed that I don’t hear the car, so not waving becomes a very deliberate choice. I tell myself I don’t need to wave and I’m making myself unnecessarily vulnerable by baring my wrists and initiating the wave to the stranger.
I decided it’s most in line with my chosen identity to wave. That’s a human who is near me, so it makes the most sense to wave.
With every car that cruises by I get to cast a vote for the type of person I want to be.
I’m pretty okay with being the type that waves at strangers and not the type who stays with my head down in self protection.
Sure, some people don’t wave back, but there I remain happily reading my book in the sun.
Don’t save it
If you have an idea you think is really great it can be tempting to hold onto it for the ‘perfect’ time.
I agree it can be beneficial to plan and execute it in a way that you’re happy with, but be careful that isn’t a form of hiding.
Waiting for the perfect conditions for anything will likely lead to the thing never happening- and who are you to deny the world of that thing.
Be generous with your best ideas and use them. Use them imperfectly and use them first and use them in the best way you can right now.
You’ll have more great ideas and when you use those ones, more again.
Don’t be stingy with us now, if genius strikes you get it out into the world right away. I think holding onto to it for too long actually weakens the idea, makes it less relevant to yourself and the world with every passing day and (worst of all) reinforces the belief that great ideas are scarce for you.
It’s faster to slow down
I find details tricky.
I often go ahead with a task before setting things up correctly.
This is me wanting to rush to the finish line; but if you run before tying your shoes you mightn’t even get there.
You have to chop all the veges before making the soup. You have to label the files before attempting an edit. Plan the structure before filming the scene.
Jumping in before the all important prep steps will only make the job take longer (counter intuitively)
You’ve got the slow down to go fast.
Approximately twelve minutes
I’m amazed at how merely allocating time and space to a task is the elixir to it’s completion. It seems so simple. A task I’ve been putting off for days, is suddenly 80 percent done after spending approximately twelve minutes on it.
Space: Set up your work space. Create the conditions for concentration. Have all the tools at your finger tips. Prepare the raw materials that you need for the job (you don’t want to get side tracked from the main task if there is another step you need to do first).
Time: Set the stop watch for a time and go. I promise you by twelve minutes you’ll be amazed at how much of the task you’ve done.
Using space and time allows you to bend space and time.
What you call it matters
The labels we give things affect how we feel about them.
I’ve chosen to call my daily films ‘films’ very much on purpose. I feel better about that than a ‘skit’ or (god forbid) a Tik Tok.
Is it a job or a calling? Do you have to do it or do you get to do it?
Change your label change your life.
Detail
There was a particular sequence in the recent broadway production of The Great Gatsby that I remember finding particularly stunning. It was the intricate detail that made it so stunning. From where I was sitting I couldn’t even make out the thousands of variations in the patterns on the set, the layers of fabrics and lights.
It wasn’t each detail but the stunning sum of them that made the impact. I suppose it’s the difference between a plain green wall and a green wall made up of many tiny green spirals that you can only see up close.
The texture says detail and the detail says quality and the multitude of that wows us.
Painting a fence
Today I helped paint a fence at my friends house in the mountains of Italy.
We simply chatted and simply worked. Then we strolled in the evening and admired our handy work from across the village.