Influences and Inspiration
Ray Bradbury, Author
Lucille Clifton, Poet
Dr. Wayne Dyer, Author
Steve Ecclesine, Film and TV Producer
Martha Graham, Dancer and Choreographer
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Author
Rainer R. Rilke, Poet *January's Update*
Rumi, Poet *October's Update*
Sark, Writer
Mark Umile, Playwright
Neale Donald Walsch, Author
Marianne Williamson , Author, by way of Nelson Mandela
When I was in middle school, we had an assignment to write our favorite writer, for me Ray Bradbury, and see if they would write back. To my surprise, I received this great form letter (pre-typed), but signed by Ray Bradbury himself! It has never left my memory and continues to inspire me.ADVICE TO A YOUNG WRITER!
R. B. July, 1984
It all depends on what you want from life? Do you want a car and a rich apartment and nice clothes? You can't have them. Not now, anyway. I took a vow of poverty to become a writer. Which means I sold newspapers on a streetcorner for three years, from the age of 19 to the age of about 22, lived at home with my folks, had no car, few clothes, and made about 10 bucks a week all those years. Gradually, I began to sell stories to pulp magazines for $ 20 apiece, and then finally $ 40 apiece. All the material you find in my books, like THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES or THE ILLLUSTRATED MAN was sold to pulp magazines for from $ 20 to $ 80 a story! Is that pain to you? Is that hard? It wasn't for me. I knew where I wanted to go. Do you? It wasn't hard for me to give things up, for I never wanted a car in the first place. I had had too many friends killed by cars.When I was 27 I was still living at home with my folks, to save money, so I could write. Would that be pain for you? Not for me. I got married when I was 27 and moved into a $ 30 a month apartment in Venice, Calif with my wife who worked and made about $ 40 a week, while I made around $ 38 a week, selling my stories. We ate hot dogs and went to the Penny Arcade nights to have fun. We went to cheap movies. And we were in love. And then my wife started having babies, which scared the hell out of me, for our income was cut in half. But God was watching and said, Ray old bean, you're a good chap. I'm going to raise your pay to $ 80 a week. And that's what happened. So my pay kept going up, to $ 100 a week by the time I was 32 and $ 130 a week when I was 33.
After that, I began to get screen work on occasion and my income jumped. But you can see I got what I wanted gradually. And I got it out of love, doing what I wanted to do. I guess I can only suggest to you and your friends that you find something that you love madly, and do it. And go without cars and clothes for as long as necessary. And whether it is being a writer, actor, painter, or computerologist, as long as you love it, do it, do it, do it. Nothing to stop you except fear, and in the doing the fear vanishes.
I want a report from you next Christmas, and once a year after that. Tell your friends. And if you don't fall in love and stay in love and DO what you love for the rest of your life, you'll have a crappy life and I'll come haunt you! Good luck! Love to you all!
Visit www.RayBradbury.com
Lucille Clifton
I first read Lucille Clifton in a class taught by Professor Kate Rushin at Wesleyan University. Lucille was the first poet that made me feel like I could write using small words. Her poems use simple words, but carry layers of thought and meaning. This is a quote from one of my favorite poems of hers."come celebrate with me
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed."
- Lucille Clifton, from an Untitled Poem
The Book of Light by Lucille Clifton
Dr. Wayne Dyer
My dear friend Locksley Geoghagen was the first to turn me onto Dr. Wayne Dyer. Mostly I listen to his books on tape to help calm and educate me during heavy traffic days in Los Angeles. His wisdom is spelled out simply and just makes a lot of sense. The first book on tape I would listen to was You'll See It When You Believe It, geared very much toward the power of our mind and our thoughts. The one I listen to now is Real Magic, a deeper look at how to change the way we think and create our life as we truly want it to be. It's powerful stuff and it continues to help me grow as a person and a performer. There are too many quotes that I like for me to list them all here, I'd end up typing the whole book, but one that stands out (and many others point out as well) is:"Our thoughts create our reality."
Steve Ecclesine
This is a story / essay written by Steve Ecclesine, the President of an industry networking organization called The Exchange. He often sends us stories and thoughts about life and working in the entertainment industry. This one really stood out to me, so I wanted to share it with you. It is a helpful reminder of why those of us that are here, are here. It helped me to really find an answer to the "why acting?" question. It is partially choice, but mostly purpose. (I was also reminded to put my acceptance speech on paper!...)ALL THAT GLITTERS
A lot of people choose to travel in life's slow lane. They tow the line chugging along doing the speed limit, trying to get through the day without rocking the boat or being noticed. At every fork in the road they take the path of least resistance and glide along under the radar. They never raise their voices or use their car horns. Somewhere along the line they have "Go along to get along" tattooed on their souls. They identify with the tortoise in the story of the Tortoise and the Hare.
And then there are people in showbizness. They have chosen to tromp on the accelerator wanting to see how fast this baby can go! They're on a lifetime quest to determine how high is up? What's next after we climb this mountain? Contrary to certain religious beliefs, this may be the one and only e-ticket we're ever going to get so we better enjoy each spin of the globe.
It is a study in contrasts. People reading People magazine or watching through the fish tank bowl of Entertainment Tonight, Extra, Extra must think a busload of A.D.D. kids has overturned and are running wild in the candy store. Looks like they're hardly working, being paid a king's ransom and having real fun!
At least this is the image presented to those traveling in the slow lane. The truth of the matter is far less glamorous as most of us inside the fishbowl are dedicated, hard working pros who are trying to be proud of the work we do when we're lucky enough to get it and stay a step or two in front of the steamroller. This is the part that that they don't see. Must never see.
There really is no percentage in shattering the illusion. If they ever knew how hard it is pursuing this dream, they'd be laughing at us instead of dreaming about being amongst us. What we want is the stability they have but just aren't willing to have the mind-numbing tedious life to get it. We are hell bent on winning life's trifecta: to work on projects we want to, with people we want to, and get paid what we ought to.
We were perfectly sober when we stepped off the plank hoping there was water in this pool. We knowingly allowed ourselves to get sucked into the vortex, seduced by the lights, the glamour. Nobody stuck a gun in our ribs and said,'Stick around, you won't believe what happens next!' We have missed numerous exit signs that would have taken us back to the real world, bright eyed and bushy tailed. Nobody really prepared us for the slow roasting over the spit. It was in the fine print on page 27. Forgot to read the manual? Tough luck.
Our career is like trying to pick up that elusive bar of soap in the shower. We look terribly foolish doing it and we're certainly in the right position for our daily bout with our opponent. One big problem is we love pirouetting on thin ice, waiting for it to crack beneath us to see if we still have enough speed to reach safety without getting wet. Can't really help ourselves because we're action junkies looking for our next fix.
Anybody who hasn't written at least one acceptance speech while cradling the imaginary gold statue can now leave the building. I wonder what Sam Kinnison might've said at that moment? It would've been worth the price of admission.
Martha Graham
I first heard this quote in Meisner acting class taught by Martin Barter at the Meisner-Carville School of Acting. It has stayed with me ever since."There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it.
It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable it is, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. you have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open.
No artist is pleased...there is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction; a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others."
- Martha Graham to Agnes DeMille
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
This quote was sent to me by a good friend of mine for the New Year. After reading it, I realized that
it also hung on the refrigerator of one of my best friends. So, now I share it with you!"If for an instant God were to forget that I am a rag doll and gifted me with a piece of life, possibly I wouldn't say all that I think, but rather I would think of all that I say. I would value things, not for their worth but for what they mean. I would sleep little, dream more, understanding that for each minute we close our eyes we lose sixty seconds of light.
I would walk when others hold back, I would wake when others sleep. I would listen when others talk, and how I would enjoy a good chocolate ice cream! If God were to give me a piece of life, I would dress simply, throw myself face first into the sun, baring not only my body but also my soul. My God, if I had a heart, I would write my hate on ice, and wait for the sun to show. Over the stars I would paint with a Van Gogh dream a Benedetti poem, and a Serrat song would be the serenade I'd offer to the moon. With my tears I would water roses, to feel the pain of their thorns, and the red kiss of their petals...
My God, if I had a piece of life...I wouldn't let a single day pass without telling the people I love that I love them. I would convince each woman and each man that they are my favorites, and I would live in love with love. I would show men how very wrong they are to think that they cease to be in love when they grow old, not knowing that they grow old when they cease to be in love! To a child I shall give wings, but I shall let him learn to fly on his own.
I would teach the old that death does not come with old age, but with forgetting. So much have I learned from you, oh men...I have learned that everyone wants to live on the peak of the mountain, without knowing that real happiness is in how it is scaled. I have learned that when a newborn child squeezes for the first time with his tiny fist his father's finger, he has him trapped forever. I have learned that a man has the right to look down on another only when he has to help the other get to his feet. From you I have learned so many things, but in truth they won't be of much use, for when I keep them within this suitcase, unhappily shall I be dying."
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Rainer R. Rilke
This is simply an excerpt from a wonderful book that I recommend everyone read. However, this excerpt is the one piece of wisdom I find myself turning back to, time and time again."Everything is gestation and then bringing it forth. To let each impression and each germ of a feeling come to completion wholly in itself in the dark, in the inexpressible, the unconscious, beyond the reach of one's own intelligence and await with deep humility and patience the birth hour of a new clarity: that alone is living the artist's life: in understanding as in creating.
There is here no measuring with time, no year matters and ten years are nothing. Being an artist means, not reckoning and counting, but ripening like the tree which does not force its sap and stands confident in the storms of spring without the fear that after them may come no summer. It does come. But it comes only to the patient, who are there as though eternity lay before them, so unconcernedly still and wide. I learn it daily, learn it with pain to which I am grateful: patience is everything."
- Rainer R. Rilke, from the book Letters to a Young Poet
"Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground."
-Rumi
Sark
I read this from a book that a friend named Gary used to carry around with him. She had a number of inspirational sayings in the book...unfortunately I can't remember the name of the book (although if you search for her in Google, I'm sure she'll come up!)"How To Be An Artist"
Stay loose. Learn to watch snails. Plant impossible gardens. Invite soemone dangerous to tea. Make little signs that say yes! and post them all over your house. Make friends with freedom and uncertainty. Look forward to dreams. Cry during movies. Swing as high as you can on a swingset, by moonlight. Cultivate moods. Refuse to "be responsible." Do it for love. Take lots of naps. Give money away. Do it now. The money will follow. Believe in magic. Laugh a lot. Celebrate every gorgeous moment. Take moonbaths. Have wild imaginings, transformative dreams, and perfect calm. Draw on the walls. Read everyday. Imagine yourself magic. Giggle with children. Listen to old people. Open up. Dive in. Be free. Bless yourself. Drive away fear. Play with everything. Entertain your inner child. You are innocent. Buils a fort with blankets. Get wet. Hug trees. Write love letters."
-Sark
Mark Umile, Playwright
Another quote sent to me by the same good friend as the Marquez quote. It is his nature to send quotes, but these two really did strike a cord. So here, is the second. This may give some of you insight into the life that we actors lead!A TRIBUTE TO THE POWER OF THEATRE
An actor's life is like a hound dog's journey on a hot scent trail. A grueling, never-ending obstacle course in search of invisible prey with no end in sight. There they travel - joyfully sacrificing life and limb not so much for the taste of a fresh kill, but for the life that they breathe in, and the hope that the trail never goes cold.A theatre is nothing but an empty box. A play is a hodge-podge of words trapped on a page sitting on a shelf. A director's "vision" is like two cents lying at the bottom of a wishing well. It's the actor's life, their struggle, their sacrifice, that give true meaning to the theatrical experience. An experience that allows them the opportunity to focus their chaotic lives into a single narrow beam and stand naked to the world. Holding their tormented hearts in hand, they share their great sacrifice in an attempt to find some of the missing truth that evades us in our everyday lives. They cry a river of tears to afford us the luxury of a single one. They live without a safety net and gamble away their future just to hear the simple sound of our laughter. What a price they pay! What a blessing they are to those of us who aren't so brave.
- Mark Umile, Playwright
Neale Donald Walsch
As many of you may know, this man is the 'channel' through which the "Conversations With God" book series along with several other books has been written. I recently performed with six other incredible musicians for a retreat for the Humanity Team's Leaders Retreat. It was an incredible experience. Neale spoke on several occassions to the group, only one of which I was able to see. But the little I did see reminded me of the words in the first book of Conversations With God. We are perfect as we are. God loves us no matter what. When we realize this, we can then reach out to others to teach them that same message. Loving yourself no matter what gives you the ability to love others and pass that love on. There is no God that wants us to live in poverty and pain, he/she/it/they want us to live in the joy that is present every day, not just around us, but within us. Find the joy and love within, it is always there, continuously ever present.
Marianne Williamson by way of Nelson Mandela
A while ago, I was at an audition for a feature film. There was also an acting class being held next door. The class had hand-outs outside the door, they were quotes. I happened to pick them up, and discovered this incredible quote which was attributed to Nelson Mandela. Now, come to find out, thanks to a kind email and fan of Marianne Williamson, that this quote was not Nelson Mandela's, but Marianne's. Some say that Nelson was quoting her in his inaugural speech, but now, even that is up for debate. In any case, it is a beautiful quote, and it has been proven to me that they were first Marianne Williamson's words. (You can check her out at www.marianne.com"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented & fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other peole won't feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God within us. It's not just in some of us; It's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
- Marianne Williamson, from her book Return To Love