I was recently listening to the podcast Off-Camera with Sam Jones and his interview
with actress, Holly Hunter.
In it she talks about, how who we are in between takes – is how we want to be in the
take.
In other words, we’re not “acting”. We are simply being. But then the director shouts
“Action!” and we tense up, start “performing”, add layers of effort and try to “build a
character” and start to “do.”
If the goal is to not act, why is it so hard to simply be? Which involves not acting at
all?
The most difficult task you will ever face in life is to completely be who you are.
Accept who you are. Love who you are. Let a story be told from your point of view.
And embrace all parts of who you are. Which includes the parts we run away from,
hide, disguise and are disgusted by or frightened of.
The energy we give to what we think performance and creating is about – is really
energy that is to be utilized in simply being.
To be who we are is the beginning and end of all creative expression. If it’s always
you, why do we try to pretend to be someone we’re not?
I guess it’s easier. It’s safer. It allows us to control things and operate an agenda.
Ms. Hunter goes on to say that the key to honest, exciting work is to, “Court the
unknown. Woo it.”
But the unknown doesn’t exist in places that we try to manipulate and control.
When we talk about the unknown we’re talking about literally existing in places
where we don’t know what’s going to happen in the next moment.
Like life.
Which is terrifying for every single human being on the planet.
The world we seem to be experiencing right now demonstrates a level of chaos that
erupts as a reaction to the unknown-ness of the moment. That can be scary at a
mass level because we’re also then dealing with millions of other people’s reactions
to the unknown.
And everyone reacts differently. Which is, most people freak out! And in other cases,
sadly, they react violently.
This is what contributes to chaos. At some level, everyone is reacting to their fear of
the unknown and thereby taking action in ways, that in so doing, they feel they will
be safer, more protected or have more control.
If we exert our power, we will be in control. If we marginalize others, we will be in
control. If we threaten or bully, we will be in control. If we intimidate, we will be in
control. We see this demonstrated from the highest level of government in our
country, to individual hate groups marching in the streets, to state and federal
policies and laws passed that strip away people’s basic human rights.
Collectively, it can be damaging and painful.
So, we, as individuals – in our own lives – work toward a greater acceptance of
letting go. (This doesn’t mean we don’t stand up for important moral and social
causes.) It simply means, on a daily basis, we work toward letting go of the small
things that cause disruption in our own lives because they can’t be controlled.
And, then, as artists, we try to work within this framework to allow more freedom
and empowerment to come out of these moments when we let go of trying to “make
something happen” and instead allow things to happen to us.
It’s counterintuitive, I know. I’ve just explained how it’s human nature to exert
control pretty much everywhere in our lives. Just watch yourself on a daily basis. We
are all control monsters. And yet, the aspect in our work (and life) that creates the
most excitement and creativity is when we allow things unplanned and unscripted
to take us to places not yet traversed.
The easiest way to get there is simply remembering the laws of the Universe itself.
We are living on a rock spinning around in the middle of dark matter in a galaxy that
is dwarfed by the billions of other galaxies in infinite space.
We. Have. No. Control.
Good to know.