Being present…

Expanding on my last post…

Letting go is the first step to expanding your performance skill set. What you are ultimately shooting for is the ability to “be present”.

What the heck does that mean? That means truly listening and responding to your audience in a deep, meaningful way. That means knowing your stuff so well that you can focus on experiencing the moment with your audience rather performing to your audience.

This is not easy, and is particularly difficult when you are starting out; even more so when you’ve been performing full-time for a while.

Why? Let’s tackle the first scenario. When you are breaking in new material, you are present in the moment (at times terrifyingly so), but your attention is focused on the “whats” and “hows”. The emphasis is on the mechanics. Think about when you first learned how to ride a bike. If you are like me, you probably spent all your time thinking about the little details about pedaling, steering, pushing off, balancing, conquering your fears, etc. As you master the smaller skills that build up to actually riding, the details are overwhelming and actually make it harder to ride the bicycle. You try and try again until finally you find yourself coasting down the street. For a moment, you forget all the details and realize, “Hey, I’m actually riding the bike!” The excitement and adrenaline take over and for a few seconds you are actually in the moment of “riding the bike”. That is, until the enormity of what you are doing kicks in and you start focusing not on riding, but on controlling. This is typically the moment when we come crashing to the ground. Over time we learn to let the details go and focus on the bigger picture, which is when it becomes pure pleasure and you can savor the experience.

Once you’ve “mastered” (how I hate that term) the small stuff, you then spend months, years or more enjoying and refining the experience. If you are lucky enough to experience this joy and get paid for it you are a fortunate soul indeed.

Until… it becomes a job, a chore, a task. Just one more thing you need to do in between other things.

This is the most dangerous time, as now your focus can drift from the experience you are in to other concerns: the commute, financial or relationship issues, small annoyances (perhaps how tight your shoes are), where you are going to eat after the show, and other unrelated details. You are at that place where you are just doing another _____________ (fill in the blank: job, task, show, performance, favor, etc.).

Once you begin to drift, you are no longer present, and others can sense it. It has a negative impact on other people’s engagement and can have calamitous effect on the quality of your work.

Sure, you are still providing the same service, but the quality of it has taken a hit.

There are tools that actors and other performers use to remain in the moment, but the most significant are awareness of the issue and a commitment to being present. If you are not present, there is no way you can truly “let go” (at least not in a way that will benefit your work).

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