We all have great ideas. Inspired light bulb moments. Thoughts fueled by creativity and intuition. Brilliant flashes of genius that reside within us but are connected to something much larger than ourselves. And then we THINK about them. (Don’t do that!) Over and over. And again and again. The more we think about the originalRead more
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It’s a great story. A sixteen-year old girl gets discovered sipping a strawberry shake at Schwab’s pharmacy. (Actually, it might be a myth-within-a-myth because some people say she wasn’t even at Schwab’s. See how illusions prosper!) Anyway. That story creates the unhealthy myth association within each actor’s psyche that when they move to LA they’reRead more
You are! Duh. Except that you don’t see yourself that way. You see yourself through the dirty mirror of the left-brain’s Maddening Mind Matrix. That is, when life gives us a big fat “No!” – which it will invariably do if you’re out in the world pursuing your dreams – we personalize the “No” inRead more
As actors, the conduit through which we tell stories and express is through feeling. But it’s often hard to access deep feeling when our lives become a defensive gesture in order to survive. We develop a thick armor around us as a means of self-preservation. I get it. If you’ve been made fun of forRead more
What is the manifesto of your life? What are you saying with your life? If you had to leave tomorrow; what are you leaving behind? Start paying attention to the narrative you are weaving through your words, actions and thoughts. If you don’t like your story; start telling a new one. If you don’t likeRead more
Start looking at your life in context. You might get some valuable insight: You’re doing just fine! Actually you’re doing better than fine. (I’m taking a page from Helena Bonham Carter, who now makes her husband, director Tim Burton, compliment her when they’re working together. “He has to give me a good compliment, which isn’tRead more
When you begin to look at the world with its real challenges and tragedies – tsunamis, earthquakes, wars, famine — you hopefully can put your mental stuff into context and realize that most of what you consider “limitations,” simply aren’t. They’re habits. We take them on as truth because we’ve been thinking them for suchRead more
Even though the video for this lesson was taken before the tragedy in Japan, I feel it seems to hold even more resonance today looking at the aftermath of what occurred there. Life is a constant opportunity to wake up. Every moment. When tragedies occur, they awaken us to the true miracle of being alive.Read more
As any follower of yoga will tell you — it’s all about the practice. But Patañjali – the founder of the yoga sutras more than 2,000 years ago believed that yoga was a metaphor for life itself. All of life is practice. Not just yoga. Or an acting class. Or practicing the piano. Or runningRead more
Life isn’t a destination. There’s nowhere to get to. Once you get married or book your TV show or win your award or buy your house or any of the number of things you desire as the end goal, you’ll discover that once you have them, your life is still the same. Sure, the external,Read more