The Visitors

Jumped from Marlowe (like a little grasshopper, I'm always jumping) into 'The Actor and the Target,' a book on directing/acting by Declan Donellan. I saw Donellan's version of Othello at BAM when I was in New York a few months ago. The book mainly confirms a lot of what Carla and I are doing with Black Forest. There are not good and bad actors, but 'blocked,' and 'unblocked,' actors. The key is 'seeing,' and 'doing,' not 'knowing,' and 'feeling.'

Theatre comes from the Greek word, theatron which means a 'place for seeing.' This very much folds into our 'clairvoyant,' work at Invision. Psychic meditation may seem like a very 'internal,' activity, but all the meditation excercises are about 'creating and seeing' images (visions) outside our own little bubble of energy. We are all actors. The words of a blocked actor have resonance for all of us: I don't know who I am, I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know what I want, I don't know what I know...

The key (according to Donellan) is to look outside ourselves (and our characters) and be attentive to the things of the world. This is where life is, this is where the mystery is, this is where we will discover a limitless supply of moving targets that will lead us from ourselves into something new and exciting. We must face down the fear of losing control, and leap into the unknown. This can be simple and small, to try something, without question, and see if it 'works.' The rule is not to say 'no' (content in fear) but 'yes,' (rewarded with possibility).

Donellan: nothing worthwhile in life can be owned. There is life. There is love. There is grace. But we can neither create nor possess a state of any of these. These visitors breathe through us, with us and in us the more we keep ourselves open.