Forget what you know. Trust where you would not.

On days like today I'd prefer to write poems about why tomatoes don't like being wrapped up in plastic rather than get ready for work. There's a poem there, you know.

Yesterday I wrote what's below. That led to the title you see above. I know how I got there. I do it all the time. Do you know how I got there?

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An Actor's Choices
Actors discover, easily or uneasily, that who they are and what they feel are what keeps them in work. They learn that pulling up something from inside themselves and projecting it is what others come to see. It's a powerful realization. As they practice and master themselves (and characters like them) they can move on to work that lets them become someone else. They still use who they are and what they feel but recombine it into someone they are not and would never be. A different choice is to use this opportunity to project idealized or perfected images of themselves (through the scripted character). Acting is an art form and a lot of work -- even for "naturals."

A lucky actor or actress (thespian) will get to choose a good a script from many offers instead of having to look really hard for just one. There are many variations on "good." There's good emotionally, good for skill development, good for publicity, good for the company, instinctively good, etc. Hopefully the good will be in all areas. That's the ideal choice.

There comes a time when the thespian discovers limits and fears. Some accept these limits. Others see them as challenges and put themselves continually in the way of opportunities to face their fears and push their limits. Some are successful. Some are moderately successful and some fail miserably. Some lose their instincts in the process. Some their feeling. Some decide they were never any good to begin with and leave the profession. Some keep battling, digging a deeper and deeper pit until they find themselves trapped.

Of those who see their limits, some think they are facing their fears when, actually, they are merely increasing their skill at facing a previously overcome fear and using that activity to avoid facing a real fear. For example, an actor who has a fear of being overcome by the publicity machine and also a fear of hatred. He has worked for years to master his fear of hatred by playing many hateful characters. Rather than facing his fear of the publicity machine by starring in large mainstream films, he will take on more roles that let him face down hatred over and over again. So, the actor feels like he's really having at it when he is not. (Nothing looks more attractive to me than doing the dishes when it is time to edit my novel.)

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Something doesn't feel right, but there it is anyway.