Recently I read this affirmation in the Science of Mind magazine. “ I am the potential of Spirit. God lives, expressing its unlimited potential as me, through me.”
It is not my intention to push any religious belief system, or new thought ideas. But rather, to examine the possibilities of a truth I can use in knowing who I am and what my creative potential may be. Whatever our beliefs about life, and its origin, seems to be just that, a belief system. It seems obvious to me that life is a gift given by some energy source outside my creation and control. We seem to live as long as this living energy exists within us. If this is the case, that we are born into this living energy and sustained by it until it leaves our body, then it is certainly possible that we are the potential of life, that life expresses its unlimited potential as me, through me.
As a film actor I see that expressing the truth of how I feel and react to the premise of the script and the other actors in the moment is the best choice. The truth of how I feel, not what I think the character should be feeling, or what the director or society thinks, but to express what my truthful impulse is at that moment.
Part of one of my favorite quotes comes from silent film star Louise Brooks talking about film acting said, “The actor’s sole hope is to set free his honest spontaneity.” Notice the word honest, to tell the truth. Remember the camera sees and records the truth of the moment visually, and there is a distinct difference between a planned response and a truthful impulse.
My purpose in writing all this is that I see how I and my fellow actors limit our potential by not recognizing and knowing what we are. Seems to me that we are unique individual expressions of life’s energy, and serve it, ourselves, and society best when we tell the truth of how we feel about our moment to moment experience. I think of this truthful expression as my little bit of information to give to the universe’s evolution. Like it is one big computer gathering information from all of us all the time. And if that could be possible, then I want the information I express to be as truthful as I can give.
How can I know and be true to myself if I don’t allow myself to express how I experience truthfully. Where I want to grow is in realizing more of this unlimited potential in my work and life experiences. We tend to think we are taking big enough risks just being an actor and hoping to get a paid job. We play it safe and do not take the bigger risk of our unlimited potential in our work and our careers.
Take the risk of telling your truth with enough energy that you cannot be misunderstood or ignored. Take the risk to dream BIG. Where do you want to go in your art and career? Believe in your unlimited potential and take the actions to manifest beyond your self imposed limits.