Gettin' It Done

What does one do when everything is done? One has to go out and find some more to do. It is as easy as that and as difficult as that.

There are those who will go out and get overly committed only to bemoan the fact that they are too busy. There are those who will sit by and watch TV only to bemoan the fact that they are either bored or are suddenly aware that they have wasted a lot of time.

But then, isn’t it all a waste of time unless one is changing his or another’s state of being including fortune? If one gives it thought, it can be seen that if there isn’t a changed state of some kind then nothing has happened and time has been wasted or at least spent unproductively. Reading books, watching performances, observing others move about is not necessarily unproductive but ranks low on the productivity ladder. It’s been the subject of past writing that there is a big difference between talking a good game and playing a good game. There are actors and directors; writers and readers; performers and audiences; players and spectators; chefs and diners.

The amount of time that has to be invested in learning technique has been underestimated by me until now. I had the opinion that a little learning and then a little practice was all that was necessary—wrong. The holy grail of doing is confidence. Confidence can only be gained through acquiring the skill through research, practice, rehearsal, and reinforcement. Research of primary and secondary sources, practice of basic skills until perfected, rehearsal at ever increasing levels of exposure until, “There it is, Irvine Crane has completed a run of 150 in billiards.” A feat not repeated very often in history. At age 26 he set a record of 309 balls.

Some of the remarkable performances are due to natural ability, or abilities that were nurtured in the early youth. When one is seventy-one, becoming proficient at any technique is difficult.

I’ve been considering my plans for 2011 and keep going back to the model of articulating the dream and then adopting a strategy and setting goals for the year. All the while fully understanding that fulfillment of the dream could accelerate and that planning of the kind I do may even prevent recognizing that a breakthrough either has or could occur without a plan.

On the one hand I fear that my dreams aren’t big enough; on the other I fear that they are unrealistic expectations. The truth is somewhere in between. The secret is developing confidence to successfully perform the action. This is the aim of practice and rehearsal, developing confidence through repetition, confidence that allows one to reach levels of performance that were not anticipated during rehearsal.

One essential ingredient is discipline. The ability to take up the task, whatever it may be, and work for its completion. There is a creeping laziness that develops with a few extra minutes in the sack, another puzzle, or succumbing to TV, internet searches, or any other activity that is not endeavor oriented. And, I’m finding out, that going to bed at an appropriate time would allow one to get up in the morning. Getting up a little later leads to retiring later and the cycle continues to expand to later and later. It is so easy to let it happen. Just when I thought I was getting to discipline, I find that I’m not. So, once again the old horse has to be made to pay attention to trends and developments and get back on the ball.

This is an example of a 4th Way tenet; there is a tendency to do X but a need to do Y in order to accomplish aim. Only the detached “I” can see what is happening and make the decisions necessary to get the being back on track. He is like the trainer, coach, or manager who knows the desired end result and keeps the horse, team, or work group on track to accomplish same.

The ingredients are Dreams, defined and refined into things to do, and Discipline to do it/them. For me now it means getting up in the morning and performing the tasks necessary to push the dream forward. The Performance Evolution file keeps me on track from a what to do point of view but there is definitely a laziness that is creeping into the behavior of the being, known in the 4th Way as being in Tramp. The Good Householder or Steward will see that this is happening and take steps to rectify the situation. In this case the action step is to get to bed before midnight and get up before eight in the morning; then pick tasks and do them.

After getting up, inertia and momentum are getting in the way. Inertia is defined as the tendency for a body to remain at rest and momentum tendency it to remain in motion. The inertia is experienced in getting started on a task; momentum is when having started same, failing to stop when the task is sufficiently accomplished. All too often one will delay, defer, dally in the commencement of a task only to find that once started the task has taken over and continues after it is essentially finished.

This leads me to the next essential activity; working along the second line. This is always seems to be difficult for me. I am in an environment comprised of actors and creative people in the IAWL production rehearsals and I’m only now beginning to exploit that for information about how to expand my acting opportunities. I think I am only now getting over the feeling of inadequacy that I’ve experienced from the start of rehearsals. Well, I’m getting there but it is taking a long time.

Confidence is an elusive beast for me; it’s like getting on a horse that doesn’t want a rider. Once I’m up, he’s fine but he’ll dance around in circles before finally allowing me to get up.