Recently in Deep Stuff Category

This being in the moment theme often pops up for me.

One of the best way of being in the moment is doing improv.  I started improv when I first began acting and I was awful.  I had no idea what to do with my hands.  I went blank all of the time and my team members, understandably, hated me. 

I still blow at improv but not as bad.  I like taking classes at UCB because it help me as an actor and also because it forces me to be focused and in the moment.

I have a nerd's propensity for thrill seeking and most of the time I fail at improv.  But when I succeed and have a scene that is hilarious, engaged and effortless, there's like no other feeling in the world.  It's like standing up on a surf board and riding a wave.

Here's to being in the moment.  (Zen Habits Article)

I wanted to share with you how a little kid learned me good.

Yesterday I had a bit of a cruddy day.  I was a bit tired from going hard core with a workout and was rushing around all day in the hot weather to a few auditions.  Inwardly I complained about being sweaty, being thirsty, etc. etc.  Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.

I got on the Q train to go uptown and sunk down in a coveted corner seat in the air conditioned car.  Somewhere in midtown, an out of town mother and her younger child got on the train.  The mother had a brightly colored tank top, blonde hair pulled into a pony tail and she had heart tattoo on her left arm.  She had a hard look on her face, tight pursed lips and she did not leave a significant impression on me.

As the train doors closed, I idly glanced over in the direction of the mother and child and noticed that the child did not have a normal face.  My stomach went cold.  The skin was completely stretched over the child's face and it appeared to be a mask.  Was there a nose or mouth?  I wasn't sure. When the child saw I glanced over he quickly turned his head to avoid my eyes and I quickly averted my eyes as well.  I wasn't going to study the child to make him feel worse than he already did.

My heart went out to this child.  To be different in any way at age 9-12 can totally be traumatic.  Not having a face?  I couldn't fathom what that would be like. 

I restrained my intense, Oprah-like desire to hug the mother and the child because it would have been foolish and condescending. Instead I put on my earphones and listened to Jon Lovitz and Kevin Smith's podcast and then I got off the train at my stop.

Seeing the child snapped me out of my cruddy mood and I realized how foolish I was to complain inwardly complain about small things.  I felt nothing but compassion for the dirty blonde lady with the pursed lips and her little son. 

In less than 30 seconds, this little kid reminded me to be non judgmental, to have gratitude and to have compassion for everyone I encounter.