I turned 50 not long ago, so I feel I am old enough to share a few general life lessons.
This won’t take long.
- Own your life.
- Do your own thinking.
- Take responsibility for your feelings.
- Your circumstances can be an explanation, but not an excuse.
- My nearsightedness is more of a day-to-day problem for me than my autism, by a good margin. No one fundraises for my nearsightedness. Just saying.
- Trust your stuff (whatever that stuff happens to be).
- It is your job to figure out what your stuff is.
If you don’t know, choose the option that leaves the most other options open.
- Sometimes that means stalling, and that’s OK. I mean, it’s like deliberately fouling to stop the clock, but that’s a legitimate tactic.
- If you know – then do it. Nike is right about that.
- Define yourself as broadly as possible. When you say stuff like “as an [x] I believe….” you are artificially narrowing your perspective, and thereby leaving out options to no gain.
- I am a discrete entity within the time-space continuum, with a definable vector through space time and a known mass.
- That may be carrying it a little far.
- I am a discrete entity within the time-space continuum, with a definable vector through space time and a known mass.
I have become fond of the Four Agreements of Toltec Wisdom:
- Keep your word.
- Take nothing personally.
- Avoid Assumptions.
- Do Your Best.
General Work advice:
- You can get a job by knowing what you’re doing. You make a career by taking responsibility for getting it done.
- Getting yourself into position to do the work well is never a waste of time.
- Seriously: measure twice – cut once.
- Just wear or use the fucking PPE.
- Absolutely double-check that you have everything before you crawl/climb into the confined space/stupid high place.
- Building relationships is never a waste of time.
- Decisions aren’t made in meetings. They are made in the hallway conversation afterwards.
Specific to stagecraft:
The four Ks:
- KNOW the system you are working with.
- KEEP it in good working order.
- KNOW what you’re doing
- And make certain everyone else involved knows the plan as well.
- KEEP your concentration.
The Three A’s
- ATTITUDE
- ABILITY
- AVAILABILITY
These are all equally important in who gets scheduled.
Traits of a good stagehand (in order of priority):
- Show up sober.
- Be able to follow verbal instructions
- Get along with strangers (because you will do this every day)
- Don’t panic
- Don’t be a dick.
- Pay attention
- This is the number one factor in sfaety
- Also, you can learn things.
- Remain flexible
- Take the craft seriously.
With the exception of life and safety, nothing important actually happens backstage.
Writing Advice:
- Show don’t tell.
- Death to cliches.
- Keep your ass in the chair.
- Anyhting you write down is more productive than an empty page.
- It is your job to figure it out.
Also, I dreaded writing this thing for about a week, but the answer turned out to be just sit down and write it.
Now you know.