Joy Dressed in a Funny Disguise

I had been itching to read something new for a while. I had gotten into the lull of only reading the New Yorker magazine subscription that comes to my Kindle every week.  It’s good reading but I was looking for a book to inspire me and I needed a book in the flesh-no Kindle coldness. I needed to turn pages, fold down corners, feel the texture of a book, smell its book smell. I had a bit of time to kill between appointments this afternoon and I wondered into the Drama Book Shop. Every time I enter the Drama Book Shop, I feel a rush of relief as if it were some kind of haven that I didn’t know I was seeking; like a cave of treasures you come upon in the desert; or a cottage in the woods filled with goodies. I always get a feeling that makes me think I was tired before I entered, I didn’t know I was tired, but now I am suddenly energized and excited. That seems like a lot to feel for a book store, but I don’t think it is dissimilar to the feeling I got when I entered a library when I was a child, as if I knew some form of salvation was nearby in a book.

I was very sure that I would buy a play to read. I browsed and did the usual skim through countless plays, jogging my memory for conversations I’d had with people to see if anyone I knew had recommended anything recently. Instead I ended up buying a book called How to Be Unforgettable written by “Dale Carnegie training.” I flipped through and figured that because it was in the Drama Book Shop near Julia’s Cameron’s collection (The Artist’s Way) that it would have some application to my life as an artist. However, the more I read the book, the more it seems that it was written for someone learning to be a politician, a millionaire, or work in corporate America. I was getting turned off. It uses examples from presidential elections and the golden age of the automobile industry. So far I have learned that Walter Chrysler took a part a car and put it back together 50 times to learn how a car functions in order to educate himself about an industry he wanted to enter but knew nothing about, for instance; and what set aside JFK apart from Nixon in the 1960 presidential debate. It certainly is not what I had in mind when I began reading. I thought the presidential debate story was just for the introduction and that it would get to the audition techniques and pithy anecdotes from casting directors eventually, but slowly I’m seeing that it won’t.

My next “appointment” was an afternoon gig with a 3 year old who I pick up from school a few afternoons a week. She is the sweetest pea and the apple of my eye; infinitely imaginative, intelligent, and generous. This afternoon she eagerly said that she wanted me to read her a book that we’ve read countless times called, The Gas We Pass- The Story of Farts. It is a book that is much more informative than it is funny (which is kind of disappointing because I always want it to be laugh out loud funny, but its just not). It is filled with measurements, numbers, and statistics about farts, most of which I’m sure go right over the head of my 3 year old friend, no matter how brilliant she is. Nevertheless her interest in and excitement about this book is palpable. After that, we moved on to a book about superheroes (Wonder Woman is her favorite), and then a book that was one of my favorites as a child, “Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters.” She moved seamlessly between these 3 entirely different books with a curiosity that was inspiring. She was rapt in suspense. I could see the wheels turning in her head. I sat in awe as she devoured every bit of information that was presented to her.

This made me think about the importance of being curious. I realized how my interest in my book waned because it wasn’t dealing in the world that I am used to (the world of artists and a spiritual approach to self improvement). How many times do we insulate ourselves within our particular field of expertise, forgetting what it is like to be curious about the multitudes of disciplines and fields that exist? Curiosity is key to keeping a creative life alive and to owning your joy.

It is quite common that because of the need to keep up with the many aspects of our particular business, we get tunnel vision about the information we take in and thereby how we see the world. But we must not forget that everything and anything can inform us as artists. Be curious!

I know. I got my book from the Drama Book Shop and I got it because I wanted some pointers on upcoming callbacks and auditions, so who am I to talk? Hey, if you haven’t figured out by now that these blogs are letters to both you and me then you must keep reading. I’m learning as I write.

Curiosity is joy dressed in a funny disguise. Don’t miss it.