Hello beautiful people!
Let’s steal from religions!
Looking back on this, I can say it was one of the greatest gifts I could’ve possibly been given! This freedom from any sort of “should” that predated my birth is a tremendous relief of pressure I’m thankful never to have known.
Most of all, I’m thrilled that this allowed me to be curious about religion and doctrine and tradition. It allowed me to track patterns, see strengths and weaknesses, choose what aligned most with my gut as I grew and learned and experienced love and loss and, well, life itself!
Today I’m going to encourage you to cherrypick from religions the customs and traditions that support your needs! No, this isn’t blasphemous… it’s not even appropriative… it’s good ol’ practical use of tools available to us all, just like everything about Self-Management for Actors! We lean into what works, respecting their origins.
Listen up!
There is something so beautiful about honoring stillness, treasuring a tech-free window of time (even if it’s only a designated hour every day, or that sacred time when you first wake up), being unreachable except for IRL as you walk in your neighborhood and bump into fellow humans and exchange pleasantries. Even if it’s a meal without electronics — seriously, try it — that reverence devoted to your nourishment is, well, nourishing!
Dancing at a funeral in celebration of the good life lived, lighting a candle and saying a prayer, daily Abraham-Hicks, giving up complaining for Lent, all of it is good stuff and it’s yours for the adapting! Look at the traditions of all the religions as a massive buffet. You needn’t pile something from every counter onto your plate. Just pick and choose what excites and delights you, and stop choosing it when you’re sated. No need to convince others they should select what thrills you and absolutely no point in judging what others put on their plates.
Should the “no complaining” thing in particular intrigue you, I’d like to share how it is that Keith is fabulous for helping me achieve this goal anytime I go on an “I can’t complain” jag. I’ll try to complain about something and he’ll just act like he doesn’t hear me. He won’t go, “Oh, wow. What happened? That’s horrible…” or anything like that. Instead, he acts like he doesn’t hear me and I say, “Honey! Don’t you hear me?” Then he says, “Do you really want me to?” And I consider it and reply, “No. We don’t need to make this stress feel bigger than it already does. Let’s not talk about it. You’re right. Thank you.”
Should you wish to check out the greatness that is The Tao of Pooh (or its more harshly-worded follow-up The Te of Piglet), those links will take you over to Amazon to add more goodies to your library. Much like The War of Art and Do the Work have a one-two punch of Oprah, then Dr. Phil in vibe, these two books feel like that too. Some folks love the hug; others love the sternly-worded lecture, whether it comes from Steven Pressfield, Benjamin Hoff, or the Gillespie-Johnson team. 😉
Another bit of goodness in this area comes from brilliant actor Jack Plotnick. In addition to being phenomenally talented, he guides actors through mindset workshops and coaching sessions, and he’s a big fan of using affirmations.
Now, I’m not an affirmations person. At all. Sort of like I’m not a meditation person. At all. I get the benefit. I’ve seen these things work wonders for my clients all over the world. I know their power! I just don’t find the same benefit from their use. They get to stay on the buffet for others to heap on their plates. 😉
Anyway, Jack offers a delightful eBook (PDF) of affirmations and other mindset mantras and lessons at his website. Definitely wanna put that on your radar in case it delights you to have access to these genius tools!
Here is the tip jar “voting” method I mentioned.
Today’s work: Steal liberally from religions that inspire you. Feel free to share some brilliant bits you’re excited to try (or that you’ve already tried and found to be of value) so we can crowdsource this business!
Finally, if this whole topic concerns you, if you were brought up ultra religious and this feels weird to you, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes about prayer. It’s simple and profound and it helps me reframe what prayer truly is. If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough. — Meister Eckhart (Tweet it.)
Thank you, beautiful people, for exploring so much wonder and delight with me in this course!
’til tomorrow… stay ninja!
