An acting teacher once told me, "The pursuit of perfection is the pursuit of vanity." As a young storyteller and young person I wanted everything I worked on to be perfect.
As I get older I realize what really draws people in is your ability to talk openly and honestly about your flaw and failures. It offers people a tremendous sense of solace, but more importantly it builds trust.
When you seek courage through vulnerability you shine a light on your humanity and people see that if despite all your setbacks you were still able to achieve great things they can too.
That to me is far more inspiring that simply touting how great we are.
Showing posts with label vanity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vanity. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Thursday, October 26, 2017
"These kids really struggle with that...."
Yesterday afternoon I paid a visit to my old high school. An old mentor invited me to speak to her students on what I call, The 4 Truths of Creating Your Own Opportunities. It was an opportunity to give my upcoming TEDx Talk in Cleveland a test run.
When I entered the drama room I saw that virtually nothing had changed. The same cramped office sat in the corner, beat-up sofas lined the stage, and even the lighting was the same. It brought back some fond memories of playing drama games like, Black Widow and Zip-Zap-Zop.
Thankfully the speech seemed to resonate with the students. They asked questions afterwards and we had a great discussion on the importance of creating your own opportunities, building the right philosophy, avoiding toxic people and environments, and working hard without losing perspective. But one subject matter in particular proved to be a sensitive one. When sharing some of my successes as an actor and writer I mentioned the key was learning to fall in love with failure.
"These kids really struggle with that one," my teacher told me. "Everything needs to be perfect with these guys." I saw a few kids smile, while others offered a subtle nod of recognition.
"It's like anything else," I said. "You have to practice it a lot before you get good at it. And once you learn not to take failure personally you'll learn to just keep moving." I also told the story of how when I was a young actor I wanted all my scenes to go perfectly when a very influential teacher took note saying, "The pursuit of perfection is merely the pursuit of vanity."
She was trying to teach me you don't learn anything when you win all the time.
When I entered the drama room I saw that virtually nothing had changed. The same cramped office sat in the corner, beat-up sofas lined the stage, and even the lighting was the same. It brought back some fond memories of playing drama games like, Black Widow and Zip-Zap-Zop.
Thankfully the speech seemed to resonate with the students. They asked questions afterwards and we had a great discussion on the importance of creating your own opportunities, building the right philosophy, avoiding toxic people and environments, and working hard without losing perspective. But one subject matter in particular proved to be a sensitive one. When sharing some of my successes as an actor and writer I mentioned the key was learning to fall in love with failure.
"These kids really struggle with that one," my teacher told me. "Everything needs to be perfect with these guys." I saw a few kids smile, while others offered a subtle nod of recognition.
"It's like anything else," I said. "You have to practice it a lot before you get good at it. And once you learn not to take failure personally you'll learn to just keep moving." I also told the story of how when I was a young actor I wanted all my scenes to go perfectly when a very influential teacher took note saying, "The pursuit of perfection is merely the pursuit of vanity."
She was trying to teach me you don't learn anything when you win all the time.
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Perfection is Overrated
I once heard someone say, "The pursuit of perfection is the pursuit of vanity." Of course, we should all strive to be the best possible versions ourselves, but I've found that our flaws are what make us unique and even compelling.
Drama is the quest to overcome those imperfections manifested in day-to-day struggles, which we all face in some way.
Films are full of "happy accidents." Dustin Hoffman once recounted two in his own storied film career. The scene in, The Graduate when he bangs his head against Mrs. Robinson's bedroom door was a desperate attempt to stop himself from laughing during the scene.
His famous and rarely attributed line, I'm walkin' here! from Midnight Cowboy was said in exasperation as he and Jon Voight were nearly hit by a cab driver after John Schlesinger tried countless times to nail the timing down with the crosswalk lights.
The point is, perfection may be overrated. Striving for greatness is important but so is recognizing the golden moments that can occur when things don't go quite according to plan.
Drama is the quest to overcome those imperfections manifested in day-to-day struggles, which we all face in some way.
Films are full of "happy accidents." Dustin Hoffman once recounted two in his own storied film career. The scene in, The Graduate when he bangs his head against Mrs. Robinson's bedroom door was a desperate attempt to stop himself from laughing during the scene.
His famous and rarely attributed line, I'm walkin' here! from Midnight Cowboy was said in exasperation as he and Jon Voight were nearly hit by a cab driver after John Schlesinger tried countless times to nail the timing down with the crosswalk lights.
The point is, perfection may be overrated. Striving for greatness is important but so is recognizing the golden moments that can occur when things don't go quite according to plan.
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