My concentration has waned miserably in recent years. (Thank you, internet, you are truly a blessing and a curse.) I find it hard to stay focused on any one thing for more than a few minutes, but the cultivation of concentration is the final step on the Path, and one that should be taken very, very seriously. Anyway, let’s break concentration into two categories: the short-term and the long-term. Read more…
About halfway through a scene I’m working on in class my partner has a hefty monologue. During our first presentation of this scene, as the monologue started, my mind drifted off, thinking about unsent emails, whether I’d brought my umbrella, and where I might get a bite to eat later. I had a couple of minutes, so might as well put the time to good use, right? And I was pretty sure my cue line would snap me back into the moment. Read more…
A woman I worked with some time ago told me that in order for me to make massive changes in my life, I would have to change myself by about two percent. Surely, she’s mad, I thought. What’s needed here is a full out 180 degree turnaround, a 100% re-imagining of who and what I am. Anything short of that is going to fall short of the mark. Read more…
Two things. One, I spend a lot of time on subways. Two, I believe in “choice of focus.” Anything can be looked at from more than one angle, and we make choices in what we choose to focus on. So as I drifted along one day, deep underground, and I felt frustration set in at being in some dingy metal can for the fifth time in five hours, I put my own belief to the test. What could be good about this? What am I not seeing that’s right in front of me?
Wow.
These are just a few examples. Click for larger views.
