Saturday musings...
One of my singers Miss Geri Brown inspired this post as we were texting last night.
Google her. She is a brilliant young actor/singer/performer that is on her way to making a big splash!
The inspiration came from the simple fact that I have been out of the studio for 8 weeks now due to our accident. That may not be a long time over the course of a lifetime but it is a long time when you are relying on a teacher's expertise and guidance.
But Geri reminded me of more, thus this post.
Often we are taught in school that time is crucial. We have to get out there and hustle and learn and retain and do and and and...
We are like puppies trying to please a master. We rush, we work hard, we run to each audition, we try to cram more and more in and we are in motion to the point of a self-induced twister.
We are often in the "use it or lose it" phase beyond literal!
What an artist begins to realize is that the study, the teaching, the knowledge needs time to focus; needs time to reflect; need time to be still to acknowledge what the truth is; needs time to absorb. You simply can't absorb the full truth of study by never taking time to recognize what you are learning.
Developing true craft is learning how you are changed. It is about recognizing the choices you have, and the freedom you can claim because of it. This doesn't fully absorb on the run. These "aha" moments happen when you give yourself permission to reflect and allow yourself to see it.
May I suggest to you that sometimes "school" doesn't always speak truth. That LIFE needs time to take you on! True artists live. They ponder. They can have a lot on their plates but they are not rushed. They make time to study. They know when to move. They aren't afraid to sit down and work a problem, or trust their gut, or trust their gut. They do not follow blindly. They are not afraid to take time to absorb, to rediscover, to reflect...
As I continue to heal and get stronger each day, I know that this summer has been all about stopping and reflecting for me. The truths that have revealed themselves to me have been stunning. As an artist, I shall take that sight into my next when I can move and study and create further.
Your path is that, yours. It belongs to no one else but you. You decide when you need to sit down. You decide when you need time to absorb and reflect. You decide when study is crucial, when study is ongoing, when study is necessary. You only can truly know and decide when you truly know yourself and the honesty of your instrument and your ability and your strengths and your weaknesses. That requires thought and reflection. The path, you see, is not necessarily linear, but perhaps infinite spirals of coming back to the truth of self, moving out to expand it and coming back to absorb it.
When you need time to sit and BE there, you need no one's permission. Just your own. Sometimes that is hardest of all. But the results can be endless and ongoing as you get up and move through your 'next'!
Happy discovery!
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