How to be the Luckiest Person Alive

Tivoli Bays (a lucky place) photo by Wayne Pyle

The title of today's post comes from James Altucher's blog post about How to Be the Luckiest Guy on the Planet in 4 Easy Steps. There's a link to his original post at the bottom of this one.

He recommends 4 practices: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual

He says that when he practices these daily, he ends up being the luckiest guy alive and when he lets these practices go, he ends up in the downward spiral that I seem to find myself in right now.

So, I'm taking on Jimmy's ideas and I'll explore them here and post about how they are going for me.

I started today with the physical.

Let me preface this by saying that we lost our house a few months ago and it was quite difficult emotionally, financially, physically and mentally, but it was one of the best things that ever happened to me.

I'm not a big believer in home ownership. To me it's a really expensive box to put all of your crap in. George Carlin said that first, I believe, and I've always took it to heart. Do we really need to go in debt to the banks in order to say I "own" a home?

I don't think it's necessary.

Anyway, we lost our tiny overpriced box and had to move north of where we were living to a tiny village called Tivoli. It's a quirky place with Bard students and famous artists and blue collar workers and has a fabulous bakery and some really great restaurants, a small public library and the place where I'm writing this from - Tivoli Bays. (pictured above)

We still have not been able to get rid of the tiny overpriced box and now the neighborhood kids have been trying to steal things out of the shed that is still on the property. So I went there last night and emptied the shed, grabbed our bikes, garden tools, an artist's easel and came home.

Today, I rode that bike for the first time in more than a year. The chain slips, the gears don't work right, the thing weighs a ton, but I was able to move through space and get out of the house and it felt good and right to do that. The photo I took is a result of that ride.

I'm sitting on a dock right now typing this, instead of being in the house we are sharing with a friend, and the loons are calling and the trains are blowing their whistles and the wind is rushing through the marsh grass and I do, indeed feel lucky.

The mental aspect of James' practice is about making lists and coming up with ideas and I've been putting that into practice as well. I teach a screenwriting class at a local community college and the thing that seems to be the most difficult for some of them is coming up with ideas. James' recommendation is to make lists of ideas until your brain hurts. I made a few today, ideas for screenplays, ways to make more money with less frustrating work, book ideas, ideas for leading a more creative, nurturing, uplifting and fulfilling life. His theory, as I understand it, is that by making these lists, our brains have to fulfill some of them at some point. We get a brain itch and our bodies have to scratch it!

Emotionally, James recommends letting go of negative people in your life. One of the things I've done recently is purge negative people from my Facebook page. At first it felt scary because I genuinely like people, even the negative ones. But after I pushed that button that said "unfriend" and "block" I felt relief. I don't really use Facebook that much anymore anyway. I find it to be a giant bathroom wall with graffiti scribbled on it, "Like me", "I eat spinach", "My girlfriend dumped me", "Look how cute I am", "Come and play with me" and it's mentally exhausting. 

I do like seeing friends' photos, but I've realized that I have not really seen any of my friends face-to-face in a really long time and I want to start to change that. When I'm with friends and we are just hanging out, talking about life, laughing, playing, I feel like I've been plugged into a phone charger and my green battery signal is going up and up and up. Right now, I really only spend time with people if I'm working with them. I work and work and work and then when I get home I work some more. 

As Jack Nicholson's character in THE SHINING says, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Probably an unlucky one, too.

The final practice is spiritual. I'm not religious. But, like James, I do find that reading books by spiritual leaders, practicing meditation, doing yoga, being in nature are all very spiritual things that make me feel more connected to the world. I've also found some great apps like Omvana that allow you to create and play guided meditations and that leads to a spiritual practice in a different way. I'm not connected to Omvana in any way, I just really like their app. Let me know if you try it and what you think.

Sitting out here on this dock on the bay and listening to the world existing around me is a spiritual experience and I do feel lucky to be here.

Here's the link to James' original post:

http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2011/02/how-to-be-the-luckiest-guy-on-the-planet-in-4-easy-steps/

Be lucky!

You can follow me on Twitter @waynepyle and follow James @jaltucher or buy his book How to Be the Luckiest Person Alive by clicking the link below. (As an Amazon associate, I get some pennies just to say, "Look, pennies." Thank you!)

                                                                      

Apps and Coffee

One of the great things about blogging is that you get to do it anywhere. For awhile I was using my iPhone to enter posts directly into the Blogger app, but I've found that it crashed too often for my comfort, so I'm taking a break from the app until they make some updates that address this issue. I'm tired of crying into my coffee while I try to remember all of the great things I had just written. (P.S. I've re-downloaded the Blogger app since they recently updated and it seems to be working just fine now! Thank you Blogger. June 2, 2013)

Now I'll just grab any old laptop, pop into a local Starbucks and write away for awhile between classes or on my way to an audition, casting session or meeting. I'm there right now and I wanted to do a post about one of my new favorite things - the Starbucks app on my iPhone.  It helps me LLC by allowing me to get my drinks quickly and get back to blogging, so I thought I'd share it here. (P.S. I also like peeing here, too, @LenaDunham @jtLOL and @MichelleMalkin. What's the BIG DEAL?)

I was resistant at first. I didn't get it. My Starbucks card is on my phone? Standing in line at a Starbucks one day, I saw someone else swipe their phone in front of the scanner and walk away, drink in hand. Meanwhile, I fumbled with my wallet, tried finding my credit card, dropped change on the floor, crumpled up my receipt and tried to put my card back in my wallet and my wallet back in my pocket as I tried to carry my hot coffee, spilling it on myself and the floor before I was able to get back to my seat. First world problems, right? But I'll tell you what, this app is pretty cool.

I downloaded the app to try it, then had trouble putting money on the card. After a few unsuccessful tries, it worked! The first time I used it, I was nervous. I felt like a little kid standing in the lunch line for the first time, not knowing how much change I had to pay the lunch lady and worried that she'd yell at me. But when I swiped my phone, ding, I was done and back to my laptop with no fumbling with my wallet, no dropping of change and no dripping of my coffee.

What I didn't know about the app is that you get lots of cool rewards for using it. Free apps, games, music downloads and refills. Once you reach the GREEN level, you get free refills on your coffee drinks. I won't go into all of the details about the policy here, but a great blog called Mo' Money explains it all very clearly. Mo' Money is great money saving blog and it seems like Liz is definitely LLC'ing! Please follow her on Twitter, too.

One of the coolest free apps I want to talk about this week is the 8mm Vintage Camera app. This app really makes your video looks like it was shot with an 8mm film camera. It was used in an Oscar-winning film by Malik Bendjelloul called Searching for Sugar Man. Here's a great article on Mashable about the film: http://mashable.com/2013/02/24/iphone-app-8mm/
The filters on this app are amazing. You can shoot video that looks like it is from the 20's, the 60's, the 70's, awesome washed out color looks like Peta, Sakura, XPro and an astonishing Black and White filter called Noir. You can even add in the sound of the movie projector or shoot silently like we used to.

My Dad had an 8mm camera back in the 70's and I still have some of the old film reels. We used to fire up the projector and show them to friends when they would come to visit. My favorite story about our 8mm films is when my younger brother threatened to show a film of me taking a bath to his friends when they came over. I sneaked into the film box and switched my reel with one of him using the potty for the first time. I wasn't there, but apparently he loaded up the film to show it and when it came on with him going to the bathroom, he screamed and ran out of the room! Funny memory. Here's a short 8mm film I made on my iPhone with this amazing app by Nexvio.

If you're looking to capture that nostalgic look and feel of 8mm film, I highly recommend this app. You can definitely LLC with this one! Send me some links to your videos and I'll share them in another post. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @WaynePyle.

Oh, and if you like to support Kickstarter projects, check out THE CABIN SISTERS with Zosia and Clara Mamet @CabinSisters. Zosia and I were in the film Rhymes with Banana and Zosia is also on @GirlsHBO with @LenaDunham.

How to be More Creative NOW

First, a quick quiz to see if you're creative. Follow the instructions carefully!

1. Put the pointer and middle fingers of your right hand on the underside of your left wrist right under the pad of the thumb. Do you feel your pulse? If you're not sure, try question two.
2. Place your right hand over your heart (located on the left side of your body). Do you feel your heart beating? Still not sure? Proceed to question three.
3. Place your left hand in front of your mouth and nose. Breathe. Do you feel air hitting your hand?

If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions, congratulations! You ARE creative because you are still alive. You may not feel creative or be as creative as you'd like to be but we'll address that in a second.

If you answered "no" to any of the above, please stop reading this blog and seek medical attention immediately.

 
A lot of us don't feel creative because we have this mistaken idea that creativity means pursuing some kind of arts related activity. Even though the arts can definitely improve your creative thinking you don't have to be a writer, artist or musician to be creative.

Some of us have this expectation that our creativity has to somehow match or exceed someone we hold as our creative "ideal". Some us worry that we took a few minutes out our day one time a few years ago to be creative and we never finished the creative task we started, so we must somehow be flawed because creativity didn't come to us instantly. Some us are afraid that making room for creativity in our lives will somehow disappoint us. Some of us are just plain afraid.

Here are few simple exercises to be more creative NOW:

Don't forget to BREATHE. 

What happens when we don't breathe? We die. 

The same thing happens when we pursue a creative endeavor and we don't breathe deeply because of fear or anxiety. Shallow breaths cause us to starve our brains of oxygen and send more to our limbs so that we can take flight or stand and fight. 

When you are doing something creative you might want to have your brain working at full power. So remember to take deep breaths as you work. Resist the urge to run away and breathe through it. You'll find that you'll be able to complete your task more easily if you bring your attention back to your breath every now and then. 

Right NOW inhale deeply and hold your breath for three seconds. Now exhale and as you do, let your shoulders drop just a little bit lower that they were before. Instant relaxation that you CREATED. See, you are already a little more creative just by creating relaxation.

Practice VISUALIZATION. Do this right now. Look around the room you are in. Pick something that is in the room with you right now: a chair, your child, the meal you are eating. Breathe deeply and exhale. 

After reading the instructions, close your eyes. With your eyes closed, try to see what you picked in three different ways. 

Could the chair be a different color, a different size, a different design? Could your child be dressed differently, have longer or shorter hair, be taller, older, shorter, younger? Could your meal be larger, smaller, a different color? 

Now think of a way that you could interact differently with the object you picked. Could you use the chair in different ways, other than sitting? Could your child be doing some other activity that could enhance their creativity? Could your meal be created some other way? (Like this 3D printed pizza?) 

Now see your chosen object in a different setting. Put the chair on the moon, in an igloo or a beer hall. See your child at the zoo, on a train, at the beach. See your meal at a fancy restaurant or a French cafe. 

Now have that object offer up a unique perspective. Maybe the chair can give you an idea for a new blog. Maybe your child might tell you about an idea for a class you could teach. Maybe your meal helps you invent a 3D printer for pizza. (Oh, that's already been done!) 

If you were able to do this exercise easily, you are definitely creative. If not you may need a bit more practice or you may just be resisting the exercise. I teach my actors in my acting classes that whatever we resist, persists. When you realize you are resisting and accept it, a lot of times the resistance will disappear! Try it. You might be amazed.

If your resistance is being caused by negative self-talk try this: Get out a pad or paper and some pens or pencils or crayons and draw what your negative voice looks like. Give him or her or it a lot of detail. Now draw your idea of a pure creative spirit, the one you'd like to have. If you like, draw a scene where that character defeats the negative voice with pure creativity. Sometimes picturing what the negative voices look like takes some of their power away. Some people crumple up the negative voice drawings and throw them out, burn them ceremoniously or turn them into something useful. Discover for yourself what works best for you. 

You might find that you found enjoyment in the doing of some of these exercises. Finding the joy in the process of creativity is one of the strongest motivators for becoming more creative. I highly recommend it! Keep LLC'ing everyone...

 

Get Your Next Big Idea Today

Great inventors, authors, creators seem to use a "super-conscious" ability to create that all of us have the power to tap into. Most of us get tons of ideas throughout the day and say, "Hmmm, that's a great idea. I'll wait until next week to work on it." Then we go on our way, dealing with our day to day lives and never quite get to work on those ideas that we all naturally have the ability to tap into.

I think one of the main differences between us and the geniuses is that the geniuses seem to trust and believe in the value of their insights, while most of us say to ourselves (I'm especially good at this), "That's just my idea. I'm not a genius or a this or a that (insert name of what you want to be someday)." Then we smack ourselves on the forehead when that great idea for a product or a play or a film or a web business shows up in our lives and someone else is getting enjoyment out of and profiting from it.

So, I was asking myself, "What is creativity? How do we get ideas and how do we then ACT on them?" As I was stumbling around on the internet, searching for an answer I came across this exciting web series called Everything is a Remix by Kirby Ferguson.

His basic idea is that a lot of what we call creativity is actually a combination or editing of existing materials to produce something new. "Of the ten highest grossing films per year from the last ten years, 74 out of 100 are either sequels or remakes of earlier films or adaptations of comic books, video games, books, and so on. Transforming the old into the new... is Hollywood's greatest talent." This is all covered in Everything is a Remix Part 2.

One of my favorite videos Kirby has made is one showing Quentin Tarantino's eclectic and extensive borrowing from already existing films to make his own. It's called  Kill Bill Extended Look and if you're a fan, it's a must see!

After we come up with the ideas, the next step is to trust yourself, and take one small action to bring the remixed idea into the world. Don't just keep it in your head or stored in Evernote or let it float around in the ether for someone else to create for us. Be decisive and clear and act on the idea and you just may find that the universe will begin to make amazing things happen.

Keep LLC'ing people! I'll have some more cool things to share next time.

Creative Sparks at Midnight

The SPARKS of creativity

I'd like to share my campfire with you this evening. I would also like to encourage all of you to take some time, create a fire, sit back and stare into the dancing flames. (If you don't have access to a backyard or campfire, fire one up on your computer on YouTube or use Netflix, it's almost as good.)

As you sit by those dancing flames, something may just spark in your imagination. Write it down, or text yourself, or type it into your laptop and then let it go. Check on it the next day or the next week and see if it leads you anywhere. Then let me know how it goes!

As I sit here warming my toes, (and trying to keep the fire from going out) the thoughts that came to mind tonight were about what a great day of LLC (Living Life Creatively) I had today.

I finished my grades for one of the colleges and turned them in. I worked on my lines for FULLY COMMITTED which I'll be performing in very soon in Binghamton, NY (more on that later). I called one of the playwrights for the 10 Minute Play Festival with the Half Moon Theatre Company which is coming up this weekend and cleared some things up about the script. I got called in and auditioned for a feature film that is shooting in the Hudson Valley in a few weeks and I went to a tech rehearsal for the 10 Minute Play Festival where we set sound levels and blocked entrances and exits. Whew!

The audition for the feature was one of my favorite kinds of auditions (remember audition means to hear). You come in and talk to the director and producer. They get to know you, ask a few questions, you tell them what you've done and where you're from and then you leave. I love meeting filmmakers and creative people and I almost always enjoy talking with them, even if I don't "get the part". I've realized from my many years of doing this that worrying about an audition after you've done it makes the process not really worth it. What's the fun of auditioning for two minutes and then worrying for a week? (toxic thoughts...dump them!)

I try as much as I humanly can to focus on making a connection to the people and to the work and then moving on to the next project. Joy has come back into my life as a result of pursuing this way of working and I highly recommend it.

After the audition, I went to the tech rehearsal. We worked for hours, for free, to try to get the sound and light cues and entrances and exits just right. Why? Because it matters. Beginnings and endings matter. Making great theatre means making strong choices.

We were all engaged fully and when that happens there is an energy in the room that can be felt and used. We didn't get everything perfect, but we got to where we needed to be to give our audience a chance to get something from each of the 10 minute plays by our brilliant playwrights.

At the end of the night, I checked the old iPhone and received a lovely email from one of my students who had done an NPR type of profile piece on me for her Radio Journalism class this past semester. I think it turned out quite well and I'm going to post the link to it here.

She did a really nice job of reporting and letting what happened in class and during our interviews shape the piece. The ending is a funny "staged" bit that she came up with and we improvised around. If you have a few minutes, take a listen. Just click on the Soundcloud image and it'll take you there.

Click this icon, then press PLAY

Have a very creative night around your own campfires. Toast some marshmallows, drink some wine, play the guitar (or didgeridioo, like me). Enjoy Living Life Creatively!

Dumping Toxic Waste is Good

James Altucher recently posted a blog about the loveliness of his migraines and how they were a warning that his thoughts were toxic. (Full post here: LINK)

I recently had a similar experience and wanted to share how it changed my toxic thinking as well.

Just a few weeks ago, the negative mental energy was starting to build. I had recently applied for a full time position at a certain community college for an opening in their Theatre program there. I had been working there as an adjunct for the past three years, mostly in the Communications program, but my degree is in acting and I've been a professional theatre artist for more than 30 years now. I'm thankful for the break that the Communications program gave me to start my teaching career, but I'm really a theatre artist. It's where my strengths are. I'm not sure why the Chair of the Theatre program is uninterested in my work in theatre, but we'll get to that in a moment.

Where my toxic thinking started to affect me was when I decided to apply for that full time position. I wasn't remotely interested in working there full time because of the way the Chair of the Department treats people and (in my opinion) his terrible ideas, attitudes and educational methods. The reason I was applying for the job was because, well, I NEEDED THE MONEY.

As an adjunct teaching in today's higher education system, you get paid one fifth of what your colleagues who are full time get paid. You have to work at many different schools, work other jobs, continue to try to keep up your professional work and try to find some time to spend with your family and (rarely) friends and colleagues. We all have terminal degrees but are making just over poverty level wages. Many adjuncts I know are struggling, really struggling, to pay their bills while working as much as they can in higher education.

When the position opened up I was encouraged by one of my colleagues to apply for the position, but I resisted, knowing that the Chair was not interested in what I had to offer. I had applied for two other positions in the past, both times being turned down for ridiculous reasons. I am highly qualified to teach my subject and all of my student evaluations and the performance of my students in my classes reflect that.

This person, for whatever small and petty reasons he might come up with, does not want to work with me. I know this and I usually say, "Hey, I get it. I'll move on." But this supposed friend and colleague encouraged me to apply anyway. So, I screwed my courage to the sticking place and decided even if I didn't want the job, I'd do my best to get it and then decide later if I actually wanted to take on the position. So I prepared. I smiled. I put together the best interview presentation I could. My family needed me to get this job, so I'd give it my best shot and forget about all the rejections so far.

Day of my interview, my supposed friend shows up 10 minutes late to my interview and sits and frowns the whole time I'm doing my presentation, then refuses to participate in an acting exercise I've used in my classes that has always been very successful!

I was livid.

When I later asked why the person was behaving that way she replied, "I was trying to send you signals that it wasn't going very well." She then told me how terrible the presentation was and how I went over the ten minute time limit, ruining my chances at getting the job.

WHAT?!?!?

The presentation I did was based on a similar presentation at another college that was responsible for enrolling 10 more students into their theatre program. The exercise I did is often cited by students as one of the main reasons they felt comfortable in my classes. What she said makes no sense unless someone already comes in with an attitude that they are not going to like whatever it is that I do.  Besides, I thought she was there for SUPPORT and ENCOURAGEMENT. Boy, was I wrong.

Needless to say, they hired a PhD from outside the state for the job, instead of promoting someone in their community who knows and relates very well to the students. They also told my students that I didn't have the job before they told me. The Chair never contacted me at all and still hasn't.

Anyway...I didn't really want the job, but...I had let all of this negative energy build up (and I needed the money because of the terrible pay of adjuncts) and as I did, I started having these really weird symptoms of extreme pain in the right side of my face, extreme fatigue, shoulder pain, strange migraines with auras and horizontal lines going across my vision, I started to forget the names of things and people, very weird neurological symptoms. So I hit the Google search button with my symptoms and started to worry. Did I have MS? Cancer? Lyme disease? Insanity? Early Alzheimers?

I made an appointment at a neurologist. She did some tests, some bloodwork, I had an MRI. Nothing was wrong with me! Medically. But after reading James' post, I am starting to think that it's the TOXIC THINKING that started to bring me down. When I asked the neurologist what causes migraines. She said, "We don't know. Incorrect chemicals get turned on in the brain. We don't know why." I said, "That's very interesting." TOXIC THINKING TURNS INTO TOXIC CHEMICALS IN THE BRAIN!!!

Those negative thoughts about why so-and-so betrayed me and why such-and-such doesn't like me and why can't I get a full-time position and I-suck-at-everything kinds of thought were having an actual, physical and neurological effect on my body. Applying for a job that I didn't really want because I needed the money and then being upset because I didn't get it...was toxic thinking. Thinking that it mattered somehow in the grand scheme of things what my friend and those people thought about my presentation was toxic thinking and it was making me sick.

Needless to say, I dropped those thoughts. Until just now. And I have to tell you something amazing. As I was writing this, the migraine symptoms started to come back for a second. The top of the computer screen started turning gray and it wasn't the computer, it was an aura, and my head started aching really badly. TOXIC THOUGHTS!!!

As I got down to this section, no lie, it disappeared. And here's the good news. After dumping the toxic thinking and making the decision not to engage with negativity or those negative people any more, my symptoms completely cleared up.

Not only that, but I've been struggling with my blood pressure for hmmmm THREE YEARS (notice that is the same amount of time I've been working at said toxic community college?) and I've been on Bystolic, a beta blocker, for the past two years. My blood pressure was consistenly at 130 over 90 something for several years. Well, after dumping the toxic thinking, dumping the beta blocker and dumping the community college, I went out and bought my first pair of running shoes in 10 years.

Now, I'm not back in the full swing of running again, but I've been running for about two or three weeks off and on, and when I went for my follow-up neurology appointment, my blood pressure, WITHOUT the beta blocker was 120 over 72! No lie. Amazing what dumping toxic thoughts, people and attitudes will do.

And here's the REAL KICKER. Not long after doing all this toxic dumping, I get called into the office of a real friend and real colleague at a four year institution of higher learning that graduates many more professional theatre artists than the community college I've been working for.

I was worried, toxic thoughts started to creep into my brain pan, but I breathed and let them go.

"We've got a temporary, full-time position for you next year, " he said. "If it were up to me, I'd bring you on full time right away." Sure, it's only temporary, but I'll be taking on a lot more responsibility and filling in for some people who are leaving or retiring. It'll be full time and I'll be getting paid enough to not have to go back to the toxic energy of that other place. I can focus on working for one school and one group of students. Dumping the toxic thinking led to what I wanted in the first place, a job with people who are supportive and who are making great theatre and training the next generation of theatre makers.

I highly encourage all of you to see where you are storing your toxic thoughts and dump them right now! Welcome those migraines with their beautiful auras and horizontal gray shadings and lightning pains shooting up the sides of your faces. They are a message from your beautiful brain, "Stop this toxic thinking and dump whatever it is that is causing it or I will put you through hell until you do!"

Live Life Creatively, folks!
Until next time...

You, LLC

As you may have noticed, I'm changing the name (and focus) of this blog to YOU, LLC (You, Living Life Creatively).

After my last post about the importance of creativity as an opposing force to destruction, I realized that while, yes, I am an actor and those experiences are important to me, I'm also a human being who is interested in how to live a more creative, nurturing, uplifting and fulfilled life in all areas of my life. I'd also like to share that interest with others.

Instead of focusing on just one aspect of creativity that I'm involved with - being an actor - I'm going to explore many different aspects of the creative life: writing, art, film making, teaching, cooking, being a parent, husband, partner, friend; all of those areas of our lives that can be made better by applying creativity and creative solutions to them and then seeing what happens.

I like the idea of taking a legal term, LLC (Limited Liability Company) and turning into something of a mantra YOU, LLC (You, Living Life Creatively). I like the idea of a life lived creatively with boldness, freedom and expression as a priority. I like the idea that the members of this LLC will learn new ways to think about old problems, discover old ideas that can be applied to new problems and hopefully have a lot of fun doing it. Oh yeah, I also just like IDEAS.

Thanks for reading! I'm looking forward to our journey together.

Wayne Pyle, LLC