When You Need a Pep Talk
Many years ago I was in a first production of the new play, “Little Messages” by Dean O’Donnell. The whole cast and crew fell in love with this play, with the beauty and pathos, with the process, and with each other. Although the subject matter was hard, we believed in its humanity.
When the first review came out, we were devastated (I hadn’t yet heard Frances Cuka’s wisdom on reviews!). The review flattened a new playwright, a young theater company, and a group who had committed completely to telling this story.
We were shell-shocked. The worst thing that can happen to a creative endeavor is to lose one’s belief in the magic. We were jolted back into reality, as if we’d been living in a false world, a world of folly and naivete. I can’t tell you how hard it was to walk back into the theater to prepare for the evening performance.
As we entered, instead of moving towards our dressing rooms, we were invited by the director, Daphna Fields, to lie on the black-painted floor of the theater, close our eyes, and listen. This is what she read to us:
“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.”
—As quoted in Dance to the Piper by Agnes de Mille
Daphna is a courageous woman and artist. Needless to say, under her wise leadership, the show recovered and flourished. We worked together again and again, and she remains one of the people whom I trust to show me True North.
This quote has often been my solace. I send this quote to clients who need to remember that their creative work, your work, our work, is precious. Though, unlike Martha Graham, I believe Winnicott’s view that to be alive is to be creative; creativity is not reserved for artists, so we are all invited to create and to be fully alive as we play.
“Play is the continuous evidence of creativity, which means aliveness.”