BEING AT HOME ON STAGE

BEING AT HOME ON STAGE

Reminding myself that wherever I am, I am on stage helps me to recognize the stage on which I am about to perform as my home place.

How could this be?  Life itself, for each and every creature, is being on stage most all the time.  Being prepared for action, for vulnerability, for safety.  Being able to sense, to estimate how comfortable I might be. Being anchored in the here and now, the present moment, riding it like a bicycle.  Learning how to be comfortable in the present moment helps me to sense being on stage as being at home.  Where it is safe for me to take off my armor, to know that it is safe to make myself vulnerable, at home. 

The more often I am on stage the more familiar it becomes to me.  Being prepared to perform, knowing that I am ready, gives me both confidence and courage.  Also the curiosity to explore what I am able to create with those, the audience, many of whom are prepared to reverberate with me, to share in the process of creating the art that brings the beauty of the past into the possibility of the present.

An idea that can be helpful in learning how to be on stage as a performing artist is knowing that I am on stage all the time as a living human being.  I might even be on stage after I die if someone reads what I have written, or recounts some of my escapades. 

Mindfulness Meditation is one good way to find my way into the present moment and learn how to stay in it.  I can anchor myself in the present even though I have the future in mind as I write this.  I envision sharing my experiences with you on October 15, at LearnaPaloozaATL.