Why we might be scared of clowns, or anyone for that matter.
I just read an article in GQ (?!) entitled "Look, Man, You're Not Actually Scared of Clowns," which has got me to again revisit this theme. His theory is that the clown in "It" is a "clown" specifically designed to terrify a 6 year old, and that the only clown who has "actually done real, long-lasting damage to the American people" is ...yep... Ronald McDonald. He argues that applying this logic, "Pennywise is scary so therefore clowns are scary," is ridiculous, so, essential
Chef's Table + what it showed me about how many possibilities are possible
What I'm about to say is NOT a parental guilt trip. I'm sure I'd feed my children, if I had them, cheese toast 3X a day if they wouldn't get sick. However, I grew up in a household that hated to cook. This means my parents derived no pleasure from feeding me. Sure, they wanted me alive, but the steps necessary for that to occur on the culinary level they weren't so into. If you believe all the "woo woo" (slowly-being-shifted-into-scientific facts) stuff out there about how o
vulnerability vs. openness: what's the difference + why does it matter onstage and off
There's been a lot of talk lately about vulnerability (thanks Brene Brown). In a way I see it as our culture using our giant brains and fancy words to point us back to our (perhaps) neglected and wordless hearts that are in dire need of some sweet sweet attention. I think this conversation can be made more awesome by an understanding of openness, which is a distinction my clown teacher David MacMurray Smith spoke about. In a nut shell: vulnerability: you're bleeding. you need
Gord Downie: a permission giver
I speak a lot in the work I do about being a permission-giver. In Canada, we were recently with Gord Downie, of the Tragically Hip, as he completed his last tour while battling with cancer. In his honesty and transparency he gave others permission to feel and consider their own mortality, courageously allowing himself to see and be seen. He didn't ask for us to take care of him. He did hold space for us to feel what we feel. This is what great artists do. This is what great l
Be Creative! Why this order doesn't work
"'Being creative' is not something beyond us, nor do we have to become it. "Creative" is an idea that compartmentalizes and limits our experience. When we start thinking about being creative, we break from the present. Our bodies are in one place (present) and our minds are in another (future). Another way to look at creativity is to say that it's not about being creative, but simply about being. "Being creative" implies being other than who you are, when actually creativity
Maybe things are perfect and the problem with affirmations
I had a theatre teacher who, with a giant smile, would say, "perfect!" at the end of just about everything, even when it appeared obvious to me, that it wasn't. And he became this voice in my head. Perfect! Perfect! It was perfect, or more importantly, it was perfect even if it wasn't "perfect." This is how my body understood it based on who this phenomenal teacher was and the visceral FEELING of being in the studio with him. "All is good and right and safe regardless of what
feelingthoughts: the word invented in a Colombian fishing village
There is a coastal community in Colombia, who consider themselves sentipensantes, beings that use both their brain and their heart. (If you speak spanish, here's a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbJWqetRuMo). They use the word sentipensamientos (feelingthoughts) to speak of things that are both felt and thought. I am the opposite. I have a giant head. When I was in university I refused to have my picture taken with my roommate because it was so grossly accentuated next