Why the Lack of Answers Makes Acting (and Life) Exciting.
Embracing the endless journey of creative improvement...
Something I have learnt this week:
There are no Definitive Answers.
What has always attracted me to the creative arts is a lack of answers.
Definitive, correct ones anyway.
Unlike in maths, science, etc.
Acting has no “right”, “correct” or “formula”.
Essentially it is random.
We don’t know exactly what works.
It is different for different people.
That is why I love it so much.
If there is no answer, there is no perfection, and if there is no perfection, there is always room for growth.
The bar of improvement doesn’t have an end point, and that is so unbelievably exciting.
I want to keep improving until the day that I die.
'Kaizen' is a word I came across earlier this year.
It is Japanese for continual improvement. Finding something to work on, to make incremental progress. Never being satisfied, always looking to grow.
I think that’s such a healthy mentality for acting and life.
What next?
While not forgetting to celebrate the wins, always look for the next goal.
Something I have struggled with this week:
Rest Ethic
I have spoken about this in my productivity newsletter “Time Well Spent”.
But I wanted to also discuss it on here, as it fits this industry.
As actors in such a saturated and competitive industry, it can be daunting to think about everyone else vying for the same position you are vying for.
It can be suffocating to think you have to be working all the time.
But rest ethic is as important as work ethic.
If you do not rest, you will burn out, simple as that.
Oliver Burkeman says in his second major book, “Meditations for Mortals”, that 3-4 hours of creative work a day is plenty.
Charles Darwin and Virginia Woolf both capped themselves out at a few hours of creativity a day.
More in a concentrated period of time, then little over the whole day.
Don’t be ashamed of resting.
It’s the secret to getting ahead.
A Film/TV show I have seen:
Scrapper
Finally got round to watching this.
I really, really enjoyed it.
Beautifully shot, wonderfully acted.
I’m a sucker for an independent British film, and this piece of work really got me.
Super short, 1 hour 20; a great choice if you don’t have too long to watch a film.
A Quote:
“Develop the habit of letting small bad things happen. If you don’t, you’ll never find time for the life-changing big things.” - Tim Ferris, author and father of productivity.