Why not ........ photograph your home?

Your task for today is this:

• Grab a camera - either a 'real' one or your phone camera
• Walk into each and every room of your house 
• Take as many photos as you please
• Try not to clean and tidy - just record what you see

Do this right now to document and record the 'here and now' in this moment.

Your home will never look as it does right now. And you will never see it as YOU see it right now. In this mood. In this weather. In this season. In this light. In this state of dis/organisation. In this time of this day. In these given circumstances.

You will never have this moment again so why not capture it. Why not examine your everyday.

You don't know what you see? Here are some suggestions for your bedroom:

• The view from your bed. 
• The first thing you see when you wake. 
• Your bed. 
• What's on your bedside table. 
• The floor and what's on it. 
• Any vingettes. 
• Art. 
• Photos. 
• The state of your wardrobe/drawers. 
• What else? Anything and everything!

Take a shot of every spot in your home. Focus on the parts you like.  And the parts you don't like. The beautiful and the messy. Don't edit yet. Just take the photos. Capture the moment. Just do it 100%.

Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life. - Omar Khayyam

What has meaning to you? Anzac Day?

One element of the Meisner Technique that is tricky to teach is called emotional preparation (which I am not going to explain here). When introducing this acting tool I ask actors to think about and write up a list of the things that have meaning to them.

I say 'go to an area of meaning for you.....'

And invariably I stop there as the expressions on most of the faces before me clearly have no idea what I am talking about.

And so I'll say 'think about what has meaning for you......'

And still confusion.  Yes I realise I am using a bit of jargon. I am also dealing with the evidence that many of us are blindly navigating our way in the world without fully experiencing each moment. It's only when the big things happen that we discover what matters to us most.

This is the thing - what matters to you PLUS your imagination is an integral part of the acting process. This will be your fuel as an actor  (and the fuel to any creative). You need to feel your choices in your gut. Working from your head and in a purely intellectual way doesn't cut it in my opinion.

So what has Anzac Day got to do with this?

Today is a day of national and historical significance. For some they have a deep understanding and personal association with this day. For many it is a great day for the game of AFL and for others it's simply a public holiday and a long weekend opportunity to look forward to. So I ask you 'what does it mean to you?' Do you have an intellectual, socialised or politically correct understanding of this day?  Or do you feel emotionally moved by this day?

When you think about Anzac Day what do you feel?  Does your body react in someway? If it doesn't then I suggest you have an intellectual understanding and that's it. I am suggesting that it doesn't have a 'real' meaning to you - not one that will move you into creativity. And why is this important?  It is the key to authentic performance. Everyday, every moment offers you the opportunity to discover what has real emotional meaning to you versus the socially acceptable response that's from your head.

Please know that I am not having this discussion to diminish the importance of Anzac Day in anyway. I am using it to illustrate the difference between an intellectual understanding and a gut meaning.

So what about me?  I could list a number of head responses but nothing really moves me about this day until I see this

And something in me is moved. Both happiness and sadness is awoken. Aren't these women simply amazing?!  There they are sitting outside a supermarket in the freezing cold giving service.  I can never walk past ladies like these without buying something. Yet I do not stop and chat - even though a part of me wants desperately to connect with these women - because I am afraid of the depths of what I might feel. Just look at those faces. Etched with their life story. And gloriously old. Yes they are old and still living among us! 

And more of my truth is revealed. I look at them and wonder.....

what would it be like if my grandmother was still alive today? How can I still miss her so much?  

And I arrive at my emotional truth - the real meaning I feel for Anzac Day. This and my imagination fuel me and I feel incredibly moved. 

Breathe. 

So I ask you to please share your emotional meaning of Anzac Day. And consider that what you THINK has meaning for you may have no meaning at all.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, not the years condemn;

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.                                               For the Fallen - Laurence Binyon

Why not ....... create a vision board

Hello and welcome to Why not - a series of weekly posts on a Wednesday to encourage us all to 'do' something.

Doing stuff, playing, having fun, moving your body, exploring the five senses - it's all so vital to the creative process. And doing something just for fun (like so many things) can pass us by while we get caught up in the business of living.

So here is the first Why not - let's create a vision board.

It's easy

• Grab a stack of magazines, a glue stick and a big piece of drawing paper (or anything you've got)
• Set a time limit - let's say 30 minutes
• Look through the mags and pull (or cut depending on your level of OCD) out anything (images/words) that resonate with you. Stuff you look at and feel something

• Place the clippings on the paper in a way that feels 'right' for you
• Paste it down
• Display your finished vision board in a spot where you can see it often

That's it for today. This is not an intellectual activity. So I am not telling you the 'why' now. Just do it and see what unfolds for you. Next week I will follow up and share some reflective processes you can use for this vision board and look at some quite specific uses as well. 

I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun - Thomas A. Edison

gratitude is the word

If you read anything about happiness, spirituality, philosophy, psychology or success you will see the concept of gratitude referred to over and over again. Gratitude has been practiced by all societies at various stages through out the history of time. The benefits of gratitude are numerous, profound and personal. Don't just read this and believe it -  I think it is essential to do it yourself for yourself to discover the impacts for you.

What does the practice of gratitude look like? It can take the form of prayer, meditation or a simple thank you.  Oprah famously popularised the use of the 'gratitude journal' in the nineties.  Don't limit yourself to this list.  Make the practice your own!  (Every night at dinnertime my four year old daughter and I list our three favourite things of the day.) If you express appreciation for the aspects of your life that are benefiting you then you are doing 'gratitude'.

I would like to share my top 3 experiences and relationships that have led me to the professional (and personal) place I am in now:

• One of the greatest achievements of my life is teaching the Meisner Technique at The Actor's Playhouse.  I had the privilege of guiding many amazing people in their creative journey and witnessing their vulnerability in that process. From beginners to professional actors. Directors and writers. Dog trainers and office workers.  The gratitude I feel for these experiences is truly beyond words.  

• I feel deeply grateful to my teacher, mentor and friend Vikki Blanche. Her trust and belief in me allowed me to truly trust and believe in myself as both an actor and a person. Her kindness, generosity and insight led me to become her assistant and eventually the head teacher at her business for over ten years. Together we have sensitively (and successfully) negotiated the transitions from teacher/student, employer/employee to authentic and inspiring friends. 

• Sanford Meisner and the Meisner Technique in a way saved my life. Dramatic, huh!?  Well I am referring to one of the greatest acting teachers and acting processes ever. I never met the man yet he spoke my words. I clearly remember sitting in class thinking "WOW - everything I had instinctively done to 'be an actor'  (everything I had been told was wrong about me in other acting training) was encapsulated in this process!"  Simply I felt validated, seen and heard. I found a way I could drop my shit (socialisation and persona) and I was good at it. 

This gratitude list is simply the tip of the iceberg.  I am forever grateful for my loving family and friends. I think it's time I let them know in more detail so I am setting myself a challenge this year to write to each person and share with them my heartfelt gratitude.  Will you take the challenge with me?

Let me know. And thank you!

The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude - Friedrich Nietzsche

I know ... I am REALLY late to this 'blog party' ......

Welcome to my new work space. I am blogging. You are reading. This is the start of something. A connection. And I am so excited.

We haven't officially met yet? Hi there. Thanks for visiting. Take your time. You might be surprised by what you find here.

For those of you who know me already .......Hello! It has been awhile and I have missed 'this'.

It is no coincidence that I am launching this blog on Easter Sunday. A day of new beginnings. Rebirth even. It has been a long time desire of mine to 'blog' something, somewhere.

So here goes.....

Creativity makes life more fun and more interesting - Edward de Bono