Do you ever stop to wonder, why you weren’t born into a country governed by a military regime? (Well we’re sort of heading there now!) Or that you aren’t subject to mass hunger or susceptible to an outbreak of a disease pandemic? Currently there is a famine ravaging South Sudan that could affect more than 1 million people ”“ mostly women and children.
Why them? And not you or me?
You have won the lottery.
You have affordable healthcare (for now). A roof over your head. Clothes to wear. A phone and computer to read this blog. You get to act for a living. Or if not yet quite fully for a living, you still get to pursue your dream. You actually have a dream, rather than having to worry about how to find clean drinking water and food. Or to protect your baby from tuberculosis.
You have won the lottery.
You live in a city that provides (for now) accessible public transportation, opportunities to go see art and be surrounded by culture and inspiration.
You have won the lottery.
It’s not that your dreams are not as important as someone who may be struggling for the basic necessities of survival. Your dreams matter.
But I mean this as an exploration (and reminder!) of how often we forget that we’ve won the freaking lottery! and that our dreams are absolute blessings. Even if they are still unfulfilled.
So what that you don’t have an agent yet or your pilot season was bust or you just broke up with your boyfriend or your car needs a new tire? Aren’t these all glorious works in progress?
At least you have these “problems” in your life and you get to experience yourself in all the abundance you get to live right now.
You have won the lottery.
As artists it’s important to be conscious and aware of other people’s suffering. Other people’s challenges. Other people’s heartaches and pains. Our shared humanity.
What else can you bring to your art if it’s based only on the limits of how you live your normal life?
As an empath you begin to realize it’s not really about “other people” it’s about all of us, anyway. It’s collective. Your work expands because you move from the little ego self ”“ your needs, your dramas, your upsets, your victimizations, your entitlements ”“ and realize that they’re merely tiny annoyances in the big matrix of life itself and the history of civilization.
You have won the lottery.
Now what do you want to do with the abundance you have and the abundance you are?
As Yoko Ono said, “Art is a way of survival.” And she is right. But let’s not confuse our acts of inspiration and self-expression that we get to do for fun and for our livelihood for the real surviving that many people face every day.
Instead, let’s spend the winnings of the lottery of our lives in the most meaningful way possible. Right here and right now while we can. Live joyfully. Live lovingly. Live fully.
(Donald Trump wants to cut more than 50% [!] of U.S. funding to United Nations programs that assist such worldwide humanitarian catastrophes like what the South Sudanese are currently facing. If you are so inclined, you can make a donation to Unicef ”“ where 90% of all donations go to helping young children affected by civil war, famine and disease.)