There's No Business Like Show Business Like No Business I Know

I'm a lucky guy. 

I work in show biz!!!!

"There's no business like no business like show business like no business I know.
Everything about it is appealing!
Everything about it is a show!"

I spent my day today putting together scenery, assembling props, and generally being useful at 30 Rock for NBC, primarily for Saturday Night Live.  I watched Kelly Clarkson soundcheck her spot on SNL ---- and I got paid for it. 

I often think about how hard I've worked to get here.  You know, it's been worth it and I would do it again in a minute.  I have no regrets.

But I know what prices I've paid...

I work when there's work, as many hours as I'm called to do.  

I go through periods of unemployment, simply because that is the nature of the business.  Feast or famine.

But I get to be involved in the world I dreamed about when I was a kid.  And I like it that way.

Sure, I do other things --- but all of them are in the business of show.. 

I direct (whenever I can), I act (rarely) and I write (more and more).  I teach (acting)

I also exercise daily ---- which I love intensely. 

But ONLY when I am working in show business do I feel that I am useful --- and it's been that way since I was 13, from the day I decided I would get involved with this world of work I love so much..

If you feel the way I do, you will find your way into the artform.  I guarantee  it.  Your life might not look like the one you fantasized about when you were a kid but you will find your way.  (Lord knows, mine is nothing like what I intended --- but it's a good life and I am proud of having come as far as I have).

Part of why I enjoy my life now is that I worked very hard when I was younger to prepare myself for this time of my life.  I know how to do the things I wanted to do; act, direct, teach.  Granted, everything is an evolving process ---- but I put in the hours, days, weeks, years to earn my place at the table.

Death, Attitude, and LIfe

When you've got to go, you've got to go....

I've been thinking about death. Alot.

I think this comes from getting on the dark side of 40. My parents are aging, all around me senseless events seems to invade the lives of many people whom I care about. Death, violence, accident. Sometimes people die from these events, sometimes not. Always I feel the brush of what's coming.

While I can't control death, I can control my attitude toward it.

When I was a little boy, I was afraid of death. Like many children, I was afraid of the dark and all that it implies. I outgrew that point of view when I understood that the world existed beyond me, that everything I see is real, not simply a stage set constructed for my pleasure and edification. Since then, while not exactly happy about the idea of death --- I want to be here a good long time; there's great stuff to do; barbecues, sex, sunsets, hanging out with my nieces, music, theater, the list is endless --- I somehow have come to understand that my ceasing to exist as I am is not a tragedy of epic proportions.

I've come to feel that death is a process to be faced with humanity and compassion. I need, for my self-respect and the comfort of those I love, to be brave as I approach the dark.

I also know from my minimal dealings with the dying that there comes a point when the soul lets go. I saw it with my grandmother. I remember the moment; she chose to leave, to let go. Where she went is, your guess is as good as mine.

I once had a friend (who is now dead and gone) who said "life is for the living". I try to stick to this maxim to the best of my ability. I feel I didn't begin to fully live until I hit my early 40's. It feels of critical importance to me that I love the remaining time I have left. Since what comes next is a mystery, I stay focused on the now.

None of these thoughts are new to me. What is so striking to me is how similar all our thoughts are when we are faced with the ultimate unknown, "the undiscovered country" to coin a phrase.