Passion

(This is an email to my friend Dan Clark. He had given me a book, which he had written, that I was reading and enjoying.)

Something you mentioned in your book truly resonated with me. Actually quite a few things got my attention and were quite stimulating. But I'd like to comment on one in particular. Just wanted to say some things while they were on my mind. Before they fell through the ever-increasing cracks of consciousness.

You spoke of passion. I gravitate towards passion. I crave it in its many forms. I have taught acting over the years. I really enjoy working with young people. I always ask, in my first class: What is an actor paid to do? I get answers that are all over the map. Memorize lines. Create a character. Become someone else. Be someone else. Be real. And the list goes on. No one ever gives me the answer for which I'm looking. The answer incorporates some of the above. Yet without the answer all of the above are meaningless. In my opinion - and whose else should I proffer? - an actor gets paid to find and communicate the passion. Acting is all about passion. We sometimes hear that art imitates life. I suppose it depends on one's definition of the word "imitate", but in a general sense I would heartily disagree with the above statement. Art consolidates life. Boils it down. Gets rid of the dross and leaves us with the rich, pure, interesting aspects of life. The passion of life. We really don’t care about anything else. Think of the songs you love to listen to. Especially those that you enjoy over and over again. The ones that stick with you for years. Why do they? Because they invoke passion within you. Same is true of the movies we watch more than once. The books that draw us back year after year.

I suppose a definition of passion would be in order. For some it is only mentioned when referring things sexual. It is much more than that. Enthusiasm. Energy. Fervor. Excitement. Zeal. A powerful emotion.

Don’t we seek these things when we watch a film? Read a book? Listen to music? Kiss? In everything we do?

Bringing it back to acting, the actor must find the passion in what he/she is doing. If it isn’t apparent, it must be created. But passion is what we all seek in our lives. Relationships are empty without it. Life is devoid of meaning without it. Without passion we might as well crawl into a cave and dissolve, leaving no evidence of ever having lived.

And who was the most passionate person to have ever lived? Christ. Did He leave evidence of His sojourn on earth? Yes. It’s what we call the ultimate gift to mankind.

The Passion.

I like the way your book is so easy to read. It is filled with passion. My guess is that that is the reason it is so popular. It moves us. Makes us think. Motivates us to improve. Rocks our world.

And that’s passion.

Thanks, Dan.