Category Archives: Inspiration
Creative Authenticity: On Being You
Once the great Hasidic leader, Zusya, came to his followers.
His eyes were red with tears, and his face was pale with fear.“Zusya, what’s the matter? You look frightened!”
“The other day, I had a vision. In it, I learned the question that the angels will one day ask me about my life.”
The followers were puzzled. “Zusya, you are pious. You are scholarly and humble. You have helped so many of us. What question about your life could be so terrifying that you would be frightened to answer it?”
Zusya turned his gaze to heaven. “I have learned that the angels will not ask me, ‘Why weren’t you a Moses, leading your people out of slavery?'”
His followers persisted. “So, what will they ask you?”
“And I have learned,” Zusya sighed, “that the angels will not ask me, ‘Why weren’t you a Joshua, leading your people into the Promised Land?'”
One of his followers approached Zusya and placed his hands on Zusya’s shoulders. Looking him in the eyes, the follower demanded, “But what will they ask you?”
“They will say to me, ‘Zusya, there was only one thing that no power of heaven or earth could have prevented you from becoming.’ They will say, ‘Zusya, why weren’t you Zusya?'”
–Mystic Journey by Robert Atkinson, pgs 14 – 15
The question, in all our running around, learning to apply our craft effectively, engineering marketing plans, tapping into what sells, isn’t: ‘What do buyers/audiences want?’
But, “What can I give of myself that they haven’t seen before, through the uniqueness that only I can bring?’
There’s safe art and there’s authentic art. There’s work that pushes through mediocrity, status quo and proven formulas and there’s work that does nothing more than meet expectations. There’s opportunity to tap into our vulnerability and touch the human spirit, and there’s opportunity to say what has already been said in the same way it’s been said before. There’s a difference between listening to the work itself, to the characters, and rushing over it to hammer it into what people tell us it should be.
There’s opportunity when faced with mediocrity, status quo and proven formulas to lift them with something deep, fresh and beautiful that only we can call forth from within ourselves. There’s a malleable, raw opportunity to do something incredible, something important, at every turn, in every project.
And what makes the difference?
You do.
And only you.
Be you.
Protecting the Actor’s Soul
New York Magazine published an interview with actor Mandy Patinkin in which he talks about the impact of a script’s subject matter on an actor’s soul.
I quote from the interview:
“The biggest public mistake I ever made was that I chose to do Criminal Minds in the first place. I thought it was something very different. I never thought they were going to kill and rape all these women every night, every day, week after week, year after year. It was very destructive to my soul and my personality…I’m not making a judgment on the taste [of people who watch crime procedurals], but I’m concerned about the effect it has. Audiences all over the world use this programming as their bedtime story. This isn’t what you need to be dreaming about.”
Thank you, Willa Paskin (@willapaskin), for including this in your article. And thank you, Mr. Patinkin, for being willing to talk about it.
I’ve written about why writers should respect actors. Much of writing is spiritual in nature. The source of material is rooted in spirit and we draw on the spiritual connections we have to this material to access characters and translate their stories.
Actors do the same. Only more intimately, as they allow characters to embody and live vicariously through them. There is an inherent risk in material that includes graphic violence, crime, loss or torture. And while it is an actor’s job to make these scenes real in the mind of the audience, there is an underlying authenticity that makes them real to the actor’s spirit as well. It doesn’t matter that the mind knows that what is taking place is crafted and not spontaneous.
Without a way to safeguard the soul, actors can suffer from trauma – even to the extent of first or secondary post-traumatic stress disorder. But even more so, exposure to trauma can shift your spirit so that you start to see more of the dark side of life and less of the light. And this can lead to enjoying your life less, feeling fear more, and generally developing a distrust in the goodness that abundantly flows around you.
How do you protect the soul while delivering an authentic performance?
- Know yourself. Know where you begin and the character ends. Know what you believe, value, hold to be true. Separate yourself from the character and the story.
- Be mindful of the real spiritual nature of characters. It’s not talked about a lot, but characters are real and exist in their own dimension. Writers are the first to interact with the character, but actors must physically and emotionally experience a character and their story.
- Remember you are a conduit. Not a character. Why are you an actor? Because you love storytelling? You are a conduit, facilitating a character’s story. You acquiesce to a character’s experience in order to share their story. If that story resonates with you in some way, you will connect to it on a deeper level. Choose roles that call to you.
- Be aware of what a role is asking you to experience. Violence and trauma that serve a purpose in a character’s arch can be dealt with in a way that respects the actor’s soul and well-being. Support in the form of a confidential creative-spiritual life consultant, preparation for traumatic scenes and actions, and taking time to process how trauma affects you are all steps that can allow traumatic scenes and roles to drive inner growth, not damage it.
- Understand that it’s going to impact you. Know ahead of time that violent scenes and acts are going to affect you. It’s going to bother you. It should.
- Put boundaries on antagonists. Antagonists bring values and acts that conflict with moral principles. Their thoughts, desires and actions are not ones that will nurture your spirit. Actors who portray antagonists* are not antagonists themselves. Find ways to connect to things that support your moral beliefs, goodness, and compassion in your real life. Put boundaries on antagonist characters.
- Develop a safe place. One just for you. No character intrusion allowed.
- Don’t forget to create your own story. Your life goes on while you are in character. Keep it interesting and focus on what you do want to experience in life.
What if you’ve already been traumatized?
- Accept that your feelings are real. Emotion and expression are an actor’s lifeblood. But they are your spirit’s lifeblood, too. It doesn’t matter what caused your feelings, what matters is that what you feel is real. If a role or scene bothers you, it’s okay to admit it. In fact, the more perceptive and sensitive an actor you are, the more likely that it will bother you. There’s no shame in that.
- Ask questions. Mr. Patinkin asks a relevant question when he ponders if violent scenes are what we need to be falling asleep to. Violence certainly serves its purpose. But it requires a purpose with context for the human soul to embrace it. I, too, question the point of entertainment that involves senseless, overdone, graphic violence without ultimately delivering a life-giving story. This is a question for culture. But as storytellers, we need to be mindful of why we present stories the way we do and ultimately, the impact those choices may have on the human spirit.
- Seek healing. The farther up the A-list you are, the more complex wounds you’ll most likely have experienced. Navigating these wounds can be a complex process as well. Don’t let yourself lose hope that healing is possible. Don’t lose sight of who you are as a being of Source. Whole. Happy. Safe. Contributing.
What about the crew?
Anyone who witnesses traumatic scenes or assists in designing them is also impacted. You don’t have to be an actor to feel the trauma. Witnessing violence portrayed as real can be very difficult to deal with. Everyone involved in the Story should be mindful of trauma and be empowered with ways to work through the emotions involved.
*A note for actors who portray antagonists. Depending on the depth of evil your character involves, you need to be extra careful to guard your spirit. The things your character may think, feel, fantasize and do may be frightening. As you give this character permission to tell a story through you, you will come up against the dark realm of the soul. One that can be shocking in itself and present some of the deepest questions in life.
You may grapple with questions about human nature, humanity, suffering, and what has to happen to a human spirit and mind in order for it to commit atrocious acts against others. As you physically live out the character’s actions, you may find yourself struggling with your own identity in all of this. Audiences will relate to you for the dark characters you portray – and may not get to see the goodness in you as a person separate from the character. Don’t lose sight of the goodness in you. You are not the character; the character is not you. You are an actor, an artist. Let what you have learned of the dark side shine light on your work.
We are all responsible for tending to each others’ spirits
No matter your role, we are each responsible to tend to each others’ spiritual well-being during the storytelling process. Storytelling is a way to unite, to enjoy the creative calling and responsibility we’ve each been given.
Be sensitive to what others’ may perceive. Be mindful. Be kind.
On Trusting Your Writer’s Instincts
If you’re like me, you continually seek out information, tips, success stories and guidance on how to be a better writer. What to do, what to avoid, how others handle challenges and generally navigate the writing life. Part of this is because we seek community. Writing is a solitary vocation.
But I also suspect that part of this is because we second-guess ourselves. We’re looking for a magical key that will guarantee us that our work is good. And what do we mean by good? Accepted by others. Validated as writers. Assured that we can do this.
One would think communicating through the written word wouldn’t be so hard.
But I don’t think it’s the writing itself that is hard.
Rather, it’s expression and self-trust. Knowing what to say. Deciding we’ve said it in the best way possible. Grappling with words, phrases, structure, characters – all while keeping a sense of wonder, magic, beauty, flow. Because writing that moves a reader comes from Spirit and Love and Heart and Emotion. And those things only flow through us when we’re listening, choosing, selecting, trusting, deciding. We only allow those things to flow through us when we’re brave enough to trust ourselves to embody them.
That’s where the struggle comes from. Embodying the work, the story, living with and in it, and giving it a voice.
Accepting that we’re the only one who can say it. Trusting that we’ve communicated and translated the Story we’ve received.
Accepting our destiny. Listening. Perceiving. Intuiting.
Deciding. Being a writer comes down to one thing: deciding. Anyone can just keep on writing.
A writer becomes a writer when she makes the decision that the story is done.
And trusts that decision to be right.
How have you learned to trust your writer’s instincts? Comment and let me know.
On Risks, Pursuing Dreams, Creating a Life You Love
Artists must accept risk all the time. What’s your opinion on risk-taking in creative work and in life in general?
Anytime you’re bringing forth what hasn’t been, you’re faced with risks. Primarily, rejection, but also the risks associated with digging deeper within yourself to expose more of who you are to the world. Be certain: we are not our work. But we are responsible for it and we are the ones who have been entrusted with it. So, there are risks involved in facing our fears about the quality and potential of our work against what the work is in itself and how it is received. Most artists create because that is simply who they are and they can’t imagine life without creating. Creating itself doesn’t necessarily involve risk. But when you take that work out into the world and release it, then you definitely have risk.
There are more important risks to take though and those are the willingness to actually create a life you love. Those risks are life risks – and have nothing to do with whether or not you work in a creative field. It’s so easy to assume that life is just what it is – and not ever get to the point where you not only imagine a bigger life, but actually create it. The biggest creative risk in life is not having created your own life.
How do you create a “bigger” life, pursue your dreams?
When you get to a point where you understand fully that you are Source Energy and that you are here to experience joy – not just occasionally, but most of the time – much of the traditional “risks” begin to fall away. You begin to realize that you really have nothing to lose by pursuing your dreams and crafting a life that brings you joy.
Most of what we learn to fear in life are things that should never be feared, because they cannot actually destroy us. Financial ruin is one of the biggest fears people stumble over when considering doing something that would make them happier and more fulfilled. If you get to a place where you understand that money is simply energy, like the air we breathe and the food we eat, it’s replenishable, renewable, you let go of that intense fear of losing it. It’s meant to flow in and out of our lives much like the air we breathe. You can create money in your life and when you truly learn that, you know that if you lose it, you can create it again. Money becomes a tool instead of a fence. That really sets you free.
If you know that you will essentially be okay, that the Universe will provide, that you are Source Energy and have the power to create your experience, then you open to risks. And how you set yourself free is by becoming conscious of what you think and believe about money. You examine those beliefs, figure out if they still serve you and replace the limiting ones with ones that do support who you want to be.
Essentially, you have to set yourself free to take risks. We hold ourselves back far more than any other force can ever hold us. And what holds us back is limiting beliefs. A belief is just a thought that you keep thinking over and over again. Stop thinking it, stop assuming it’s true and, presto – you change it. It’s a process – you start somewhere and as you open and take more risks, you start dreaming bigger and bigger. You accomplish one dream and it’s replaced by another. It’s a lot like climbing a mountain – what looks so far up and impossible from the bottom of the hill, doesn’t look that way when you get closer to it. Once you reach that place, you look higher, you keep climbing.
So what’s changing is your perspective. And what is perspective? Your thoughts on something.
But how do you get to the point where it’s not just wishing, but reality?
Action. You don’t have to change your beliefs first. Start climbing. Your beliefs will be challenged as you do. And, you’ll have to either change them to accommodate your new goal or stop climbing. That’s how we grow, that’s how life either gets bigger or stays small. Many, many bigger lives, happier ones, incredible accomplishments never happen because people do not make up their minds and decide that that’s what they want. Decision is so essential to creating a life you love. We tend to wallow in a space of wishing, hoping, dreaming then talking ourselves out of it, tallying all the reasons it couldn’t work, feeling afraid, shrinking because we fear we’re inadequate, not good enough, that we’ll fail – and cycling through this. And what happens? We never decide.
Decide what you want – and a whole new force of energy rushes in.
You can’t wait for perfect timing. Perfect timing doesn’t exist. You start by deciding what you want. Taking action, changing your beliefs along the way, essentially growing into your dream.
Do you have to start small?
That’s a great question. Most advice out there tells you take baby steps. Inch your way along your dream path. For some that’s good, practical advice. It’s not right for everyone. You don’t have to start small. In fact, you may want to start at the top. And by this, I mean start seeing yourself, your life through the lens of who you want to be, what you want to have achieved and live from that perspective. As Mike Dooley says “Dwelling from, not upon, the space you want to inherit is the fastest way to change absolutely everything.” That’s absolutely true.
How to Mindfully Prepare for Your Next Creative Project
We Must Meet Each New Work for the First Time
As artists, we develop style, routines, working habits that shape how we approach our work.
It can be tempting to move on to the next project as more or less a subconscious continuation of the last one. Especially when we’re busy and have little time between projects. We know we’ve done it before and so we assume we’ll do it again the same way. But no two projects are ever alike. What worked so beautifully before may or may not work for this one. Staying open to new processes is essential and one of the primary ways we develop as artists.
Each new work deserves to be met with a creative openness that combines our wealth of experience with fresh humility and respect.
We Think We Create, When In Fact We’re Being Created
If you see your creative project as something that must be done, achieved, strived for, accomplished, completed – you’re looking through a very narrow lens. Projects must be brought forth and brought to their finished form, yes; but they have far more to create in us than we ever create in them.
Each new work brings something to you, the artist.
Each new work develops insight, perspective, experience in you.
Each new work prepares you for the next work.
If you’re not looking at your project with this in mind, you won’t be able to fully receive its blessing.
The Most Important Thing You Can Do is… Listen
There is nothing more important, in fact. Listening comes first, comes second, comes last.
You have to listen to the work, be receptive, interact with Guidance.
If you throw too much of Yourself into your work without knowing where you end and the Work begins, you’ll miss its soul spark. It is an interactive process – you listen to the work, you receive the work, the work reveals itself through your creative process over and over and over again until it emerges and you fade.
Projects Choose You Because They Trust You…So Let Them Trust You
Artists receive creative work from Source. We are conduits. We stand between the Unseen and the Seen. Our gifts allow us to translate the Unseen into the Seen. We do not actually “create” anything. We are provided with ideas, insight, guidance, inspiration, stories, characters, concepts – all because we have been deemed Trustees of this Unseen World.
It’s our job to say yes to our calling.
Each new work counts on us to bring the best of ourselves to it.
Each new work trusts us – more than anyone else it could have chosen – as the right person to emerge itself through.
That’s why we must meet each new work as new work.
Because we are the only one who can greet it.
creative inside out 