Abel Brainz Digest, Vol. 51 - May 16, 2024
Hello again, everyone!
I'm honored you've stuck around.
This week: TL;DR
Career thoughts*
May Birthdays
I'm performing on May 23rd!
*hopefully you do read thru for my thoughts on career choices and how they are bigger versions of how we improvise/act/perform :)
check out this cool stuff
Full disclosure, I'm recycling some articles from Austin Kleon's recent newsletter. Mainly because of the extensive praise/remembrance/celebration of music producer Steve Albini. I'm not going to pretend that I'm some kind of super fan. I am a fan of some of the stuff he's worked on. This quote hit me right in the life & career choices:
“I’ve lived my whole life without having goals, and I think that’s very valuable, because then I never am in a state of anxiety or dissatisfaction. I never feel I haven’t achieved something. I never feel there is something yet to be accomplished... Success means I get to do it again tomorrow"
Van Damme if that didn't resonate with me. I never thought about life without goals. I knew that there were certain things I wanted in my life but I suppose I never equated being "successful" or have ever been defined by the goals.... I just love how liberated I felt when I read that. 'Oh yeah. I suppose goals aren't necessary if I'm completely immersed in the present moment."
My acting career consists of the occasional audition and the occasional show. I have all these ideas of what I want to do. I suppose I'd be bummed if they didn't happen. I suppose I also justify not reaching those goals by acknowledging what would've been different.
What if I accepted the invitation to The Groundlings Writing Lab? Where would I be now?
The more I look back, the less import I have on the current moment. Same with looking to the future. The stuff you choose to do now is the most important. The fact that you chose it, makes it so. So if FOMO is a thing, it's merely the avoidance of truly being present with what you are doing...
And being completely present and in the moment is exactly where we want to be when we improvise/act/perform.
Whoa. What a tangent. Apologies.
check out this cool birthday stuff
May birthdays are dope! Not because of mine, silly. Look at these three birthdays:
Willie Mays, Birthday - May 6- arguably the greatest baseball player who ever lived.
Stevie Wonder's Birthday - May 13 - IMO, the greatest songwriter of the 20th century. Here's a playlist with just some of my favorites. Stevie Wonder was also a huge force behind getting Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday recognized as a national holiday.
Malcolm X's Birthday - May 19 - one of the most influential and polarizing people of the 20th Century. His evolution as a person is incredible and Spike Lee's movie is amazing film making.
check out this show!
I'm performing in Mad's Mixer on Thursday May 23rd at Limelight Theater. Madeline Evans hosts another dope show where improv teachers around ATL get to do scenes with other improvisers who might be earlier in their improv journey. I'm excited because somehow I'm part of an amazing lineup. Click here for tickets (and be sure to scroll down to find the show)
Okay, I think I've gone on long enough.
Click here for all the past volumez.
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Much love,
Abel