Get Ready Moment!
Before the action - comes the act. What is that last breathe like for you right before you "Go On?"
When I interview people that perform in front of other people for a living, whether it’s musicians, actors, or athletes, I ask them that question. Each person has a different method, but the same goal. To gather themselves in the instant prior to giving themselves away. Totally and completely.
All of us perform for others, maybe not by the thousands or millions, but for somebody. So we all have that moment. We all give ourselves away. How we gather ourselves up and give it away again and again often proves to be a friction point. Between us and within us.
Human beings are great at fucking up good times. I preach to my staff “Do not get in the way of a guest and their good time!” The ability to practice what I preach is a missing tool on my belt sometimes, and that’s when I typically step in shit.
Self-sabotage is a fine art, full of nuance and manipulation. Then risk and rationalization. And finally, denial and capitulation. Stringing myself along the edge. Flinging caution over, but never myself.
What one tells oneself in that last breath before showtime is the most impactful self-fulfilling prophesy one can utter. What do we tell ourselves? Is it an affirmation exhorting yourself toward the moment?
Or is it a repressive constraint leftover from a chaotic childhood? The people that answer the questions that I ask tell me that they tell themselves both things. Not simultaneously, but in different moments. For different moments. And for different audiences.
That breath is remarkable, and is what prompts me to dream-wrestle this theme. It’s the most honest moment besides the light-switch moment. You know, those few, almost lost seconds, between the instant you turn off the light and your head hits the pillow.
If that’s not honest self-talk, who the hell are you talking to? Maybe your demon, now that I think of it. And what do they tell you? Maybe the truth. And the act is nothing more than the preface to the action. Or it’s everything to that moment.
What I believe is that the act is the dream. And the action is the drama. What you tell yourself is the fuel. What your perform is the flame. I shared my last Feature Piece in mxdwn.com in my last post here.
They both believe that the mask makes them more honest. Sounds like the Lone Ranger. Maybe we need more of that moment.
Modern-Day Mephistopheles? Masked Men Orville Peck and Tobias Forge
You continue to amaze me with your support. New subscriptions and renewals. You warm my heart and pay a couple of my bills. For that you are incredibly important for so many good-feelings.
Ric