What is the Cost?

If you've been an actor, or artist long enough chances are you've had to defend your decision to pursue a less conventional path at some point. Maybe there's been a spirited debate or two between parents, or friends still holding out for the off-chance you'll become a doctor. "There's still time!" you may have heard.

Change is unsettling to most. It challenges people's understanding of the world - or at least what they think they know. It creates disharmony in our routines, and oh, how people love routine.

Still, at some point YOU have to decide who's life you're going to live. Your time on this planet is limited and many of our decisions have far more significant impact down the road than we can imagine. 

There's an impressive list of folks who kept their head down and decided to appease a parent, or a loved one at great sacrifice - by giving up that which they held most dear; the pursuit of becoming a creator, a dreamer, an artist.

Ask yourself, what is the cost of living someone else's life?

You Can't Force People to Care

Yesterday afternoon, I had the chance to work with some very talented actors currently performing in, The Last Tiger in Haiti, a production nearing its run at Berkeley Rep.

The actors had all agreed to participate in a reading of my screenplay. I was less concerned about casting the right people for the roles than I was just having terrific actors play with the words I'd spend the past several months putting together.

After the reading, the six of us engaged in a spirited dialogue about what it means to be an actor. We talked about the lifestyle, the struggle, and the rewards. Each of us agreed the story I was trying to bring to life was important, relevant, and needed to told. But they also voiced their frustrations with getting people to care about storytelling in general - to get people to appreciate how stories shape our culture and identity.

What I learned during our conversation was nobody can force you to care about anything. Whether it's a compelling film or animal rights, each of is wired in different ways. As a result, we all have unique desires, hopes, questions, concerns, and passions. 

What you can do is present YOUR interpretation of the world through anecdotes, stories, or facts and then allow people to make up their own minds on how they feel about it. 

I suppose what people ultimately think is less important than making the effort to create something in the first place.