I'm going to reference a musical. I've done it before on this blog, and once again, it's that day. I like musicals. They're fun. But, it's not just any musical. It's a Sondheim musical. And, it's not just any Sondheim musical. It's "Sunday in the Park with George," which, in my opinion, is the best Sondheim musical.
Here's a picture of Mandy Patinkin playing the title role-
That's Bernadette Peters in the pinkish/ salmony/ reddish(?) dress. With the parasol.
The story is that of Georges Seurat, and there is this glorious song in the play called "Putting it Together". The opening stanza goes like this-
"Bit by bit, putting it together
Piece by piece, only way to make a work of art
Every moment makes a contribution
Every little detail plays a part
Having just a vision's no solution
Everything depends on execution
Putting it together (That's what counts)"
Each piece is a part of the puzzle. But, it takes all of them to make one piece of art. How cool is that? Here's a Seurat painting to give you an idea of why/ how this makes sense.
Get it? Got it? Good.
He used pointilism. It's a bunch of little dots that make a picture. Like pixels, but with paint, many years before pixels were an idea. Each dot is a little coloured dot in and of itself, but together, they form a beautiful, complete, cohesive whole.
This other verse, from much later in the song, expresses better where I'm attempting to take this idea...
"Beat by beat, losing inhibition
Head, hands, feet, trying to relax, but not too much
Trying to lay out the exposition
But without exposing it as such
Trying to perform but not audition
Trying to establish recognition"
Here's what I'm going through:
Wow, that makes it sound as if my life is overwhelmingly difficult and unfortunate. My life is rather great, just to let you know, but I am dealing with a concept. I hesitate to call it a problem, because it isn't problematic. I just can't name it.
I'm fascinated.
I'm easily fascinated. I like a lot of things, but, within the past six monthes, they have come together in my mind to form one conclusive concept. I like yoga, voice, martial arts, acting, photography, writing... and it's the putting it together that seems to be tricky. See what I did there? I used the title of the song in my sentence. Putting it together. Writing. I like it. Anyway, these are all decidedly independant interests, and I've spent a bit of time contemplating why exactly it is that all of them fascinate me- why I feel the desire to split my interest in so many different directions. Because, that is a bunch of different directions.
I've determined why-
It's the thread that connects all of them: understanding the human experience. It's fascinating. If I just got really broad or new-agey for you, take a few steps back with me, and if that made total sense, congratulations on getting what I mean faster than I initially got it. Okay. The human experience. What it means to be alive. Not that far... I'm not pretending I know the meaning of life. Haha, no. I'm young, and learning. Making a claim like that is crazy, and I'm not, for a second, going to attempt to bluff that. But, I know what it means to be alive. I happen to be alive. Of that, I'm certain. This isn't the Matrix. At least, I don't think it is. My best guess is that you are alive too. Just because of logic and stuff. Being alive means that you think, feel, touch, taste, share, hide... often all at the same time. We all do these things. Every day. Yes, maybe you are fasting, alright, blast me in the comments, but in general, we all do these things. We share this. We are alive, together, we all have minds, we all think, we all feel, we all understand. This isn't rocket science, or anything new.
Yet...
How often do we truly analyze our own selves? Our own true selves? Or, even more importantly, the minds, feelings, tastes, touches of others? I don't mean by caressing them, though that is very nice, and I do recommend it. I mean by thinking like them. Empathy. Really putting yourself in their shoes. Seeing things in a different, new way because it is something you, as a human are not only capable of, but programmed to do. Culturally, we are shut down from our ability to do this. We go, "me, me, me!". Science backs me up on this though- that's not how we are born. During the first few monthes when we are a helpless baby, yes, but soon after, we become pack animals. We attempt to understand each other.
Then, we STOP understanding each other.
And we stop understanding ourselves. Why? Why would we do that? Is it culture? Is it pre-programmed? I have no idea. I just am fairly certain that it happens. We get wrapped up in the things swirling around in our minds- our fears, our concepts of right and wrong, our misconceptions... and they skew our view of the world. They are not us, and they are not ultimate truths. They can be changed. We exist in a world of grey. We can start again. Most of us would never think of it. I have. I don't know why, but, I have. And, I've changed. It's very exciting, and has increased the amount of happiness I feel about the world, myself, and you know, life in general. Which is nice. I'm at a point in my life where I am physically fit, healthy, confident, and overall happy. Yeah, I have bad days, but I relish them, knowing that other days will be better. Bad days are a gift to remind you that the happy times are impermanent, but so are the bad times. You know? It seems so clear to me now.
SO... What are you getting at?
I know. I have to be going somewhere with this. Bear with me. You should win a medal for this.
How does this apply to yoga, voice, martial arts, acting, photography and writing? Well, which one of those things
doesn't need a sense of empathy and understanding of the self? Let's go through.
1. Yoga
It prepares the body and mind for meditation. Yoga includes stretching, strengthening, improving breathing, improving awareness, and eventually teaching mind and body control in order to reveal the real self. Well, yeah. That clearly fits.
2. Voice
Voice work in a nutshell...releasing tension, un-inhibiting the connection between your brain and your sound, teaching the most open and resonant way to release sound so that your thoughts, needs, and understandings are clearly communicated to others and the world through language, working with the text of others... Yup. That fits too.
3. Photography
Anyone can take a photograph of something, but if you put 20 different people in a room, and ask them to take photographs of the same thing, you will get 20 different pictures, because they will all see the subject differently. They all have different perceptions of the world that they can share with one another, and through the lens of a photographer, we are exposed to their unique sensitivities and worldview. It's almost voyeuristic. You get a glimpse into the soul of the artist. Yeah. Once again, this fits.
4. Martial Arts
I mentioned confidence, and nothing boosts your confidence like knowing martial arts. You feel like a badass, capable of defending and taking care of yourself, and those you love. Those inhibitions in your mind, which are there for so many reasons, start to disintegrate because, no, you know what? I can do this I
can do this.
Guys, I'm starting to see a pattern.
5. Writing
This one is similar to what I said about photography- no one person is going to write the same way as another person. We all have our own cadences, our unique connections to language, our personal favourite words, expressions, and beyond that, topic choices. Through our writing we reveal ourselves and our humanity. We see another person's world through their eyes, and are sucked in. I'm taking a class with Def Poetry Jam's Lemon Anderson, and he said something freaking brilliant last night-
"Bring them to a place nobody knows, then remind them that they've been there". Brilliance. This fits.
6. Acting
The mother of all of them. This combines everything I've said up above. Your body has to be free. Your voice has to be connected and free. Your mind has to be free. You have to have a creative opinion and confidence. AND... this is why it's the mother... you have to have extraordinary empathy. Meryl Streep, who I think everyone can agree is an exceptional actor, said, "
The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy". Susan Sarandon, who I think is also pretty fantastic, said, "
I think I'm an actor because I have very strong imagination and empathy". I didn't make this up, is what I'm saying. People smarter and older than me have said this, and I'm just putting it into my own words.
THUS...
I am appreciative and thankful to have come to this conclusion, realization, epiphany, enlightenment, whatever you want to call it, and I want to share it. It has brought me a lot of inner peace, and hopefully, it can bring other people inner peace as well. I want to teach people. I want to learn how to teach people to feel empathy for themselves and one another, to comprehend not only their own mind and power, but that of others. I'm putting together how to do this. It's through Voice that I most excel, and frankly, it's what I care the most about. It seems like a good way to reach people. I want to make them good actors, and good people, and the same time. The school at which I am a priviledged, lucky, happy, thrilled lady to work has this as their mission statement- "Growth as an actor and as a human being are synonymous". And damnit, they are so right. That concept has changed my life, and made me need to change the lives of others with it.
THAT is what I want.
That. That is what I want. I want to learn to be an inspirational teacher. I want to learn how make the future brighter for other people through my love of voice, acting, text, and them. I want to learn everything I can so that I can do this as well as possible. Every one of these hobbies is opening my eyes to more facets of this concept, and then I can apply it to the techniques I'm learning from the beautiful teachers who are allowing me to shadow their classes, as well as other instructors I've had along the way. I'm not pretending that I've got it figured out, or that I've mastered this. I'm a student. I always will be. Which, is thrilling. There is so much to learn. I'm so young, and still so stupid. There is so much out there...
I AM SO EXCITED!
Happy Friday!
