MAGIC, MOJO, AND THE LAND

I am a magic thinker. I see secret signs in birds, trees, if a song comes on the radio or in the store or wherever. I believe all things are connected by The Force, by Cosmic Strings. 

By the power of my mind.

This may or may not be a good thing.

But there it is and I really can't change it. 

I suppose some of my self-styled mysticism comes from my mother, who had many of the same traits. She found "The Land" to have magic. And when she said "The Land", there were always quotations marks around it. You could feel them in how she said the words. And I believe "The Land" to indeed have mojo. There is something in the Earth, in the soil, the trees and flowers and fields of corn. There is always a feeling I get when I look to the West, East, North or South. A connection to greater things, larger ideas that can possibly fit in my tiny little human sized brain. 

I am thinking on this because one of the ways I manifest the magic is in totems. Items. Action figures, show shirts, actual photographs, virtual ones too, coffee mugs. 

And hats.

I just got back from California. And I had just got a hat at Disney's California Adventure. A really good one, featuring the logo for Guardians of the Galaxy. Sometimes you find a hat that just feels right. Like it belongs on your head. This was one of those hats. I wore it every day for the past week.

Then I had rehearsal for Chamber of Secrets. It's a kids show I'm doing up at Reel Kids. And this one has 29 real kids, grades 2-5. 

Sometimes I think it should be called Chamber of Horrors. 

It's just a lot of kids to have in a show. Especially when it's just me and one assistant. Things can get a little hectic. 

And by hectic I mean totally insane.

So yesterday, as I'm trying to direct the final scene of the show, and with no assistant due to college finals, one of my little cast members pulled my hat off my head. I didn't have time to grab it back, as I was trying to keep things in a semblance of control.

And I forgot all about it.

Hours later, after that rehearsal and then another one for a production of Little Shop of Horrors, also at Reel Kids, as I was finally heading to my car for the hour drive home, I reached for my hat, and realized it was still with that kid.

I searched the entire theatre space twice over, hoping that the kid had set it down somewhere. 

No such luck.

So for the next couple of hours, I obsessed over my hat.

Because it has mojo. Magic. Power. The Force.

And around midnight I thought to myself, "I am a magical thinker, and I dig that, but this is too much." And I tried to let it go. 

A hat is just a hat. Nothing to lose sleep over. There are far more serious things in life.

That didn't work.

Then, I realized that the Hat was going on a journey, organized and orchestrated by the Mojo Gods of Headgear; that this was meant to be; that I had actually fulfilled my destiny. 

And sleep came.

Here's a song. It's Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf.

WHEN BEING STRONG WITH THE FORCE ISN'T ENOUGH

So one of the things I get to do in this life is teach children. Mostly theatre, but also speech and debate these days. I love it. There is something really nice about hanging out with kids and trying to help them figure out this world we all share. And I seem to be good at it. I think maybe I get that from my mother, who was an amazing teacher for elementary students. She had this way of connecting with and inspiring her students that was magic. I don't know how you can teach people to do what she did. I think there are of course many excellent ideas about teaching, courses to take on the basics. But there is also that X factor that you either have or do not have.

 It's sort of like having the Force be strong with you.

I think I got a little bit of that from her. 

So yesterday, it was the final day of a section on speech and debate I was doing with this one class. the section consisted of doing a daily salutation to each other, where each kid got up in front of the class, greeted everyone, said their name, and shared a quote. The quote could be anything they wanted, a song lyric, a line from a movie, something they overheard, and so on. Often, is the quote was interesting (and they almost always were) we'd discuss the meaning, if they believed the quote, and so on. Then we'd move on to working on short speeches, and then group debate.

It's a really fun unit.

The group debates this time were Netflix vs. Prime Video; and the pros and cons of having a dog.  We had done the individual speeches last week, and this day was all about the debates. We would do our daily salutation, then prep for the debate, and see what happened. 

When I got to class, one of the brightest of this group was sitting apart from the group, looking decidedly sad. One of her friends was sitting with her, trying in vain to cheer her up. I let her skip her quote, as it was pretty clear she was truly upset. This kid was an excellent speaker, very smart, and had been looking forward to speaking on behalf of the upside of having a dog. She was a proud dog lover, and told me every class a bit about her dog, how fantastic he was, how funny, how awesome.

So as the kids began prep for the debate, I walked over and asked her if everything was ok.

She stoically shook her head and handed me a note.

It read "I can't talk today. My dog died."

Sometimes, even when the Force is strong with you, there is nothing you can do to take away the pain in this world. 

I told here the things you tell people when they lose someone they love. How lucky her dog was to have her in his life. How it wasn't fair. How I wished I could make it not be so. How I was sure her dog was playing in a grand field, happy and free, and would always watch over her. 

I tried to be honest and supportive. I told her she could skip the debate, sit in another room, do whatever she wanted. She didn't speak in the debate, but she bravely stayed in the classroom. And somehow, managed to smile once or twice.

I think we all need to be like that. Things are hard right now. Terribly hard. There is so much sorrow and anger and madness running rampant. So much anxiety. 

We need to let our sadness out. Let each other know how we feel, in whatever way we can. And we need to be brave, and love each other.

May the Force Be with Us. Everyone.

Here's a song. It's Interstellar Love by The Avalanches.

COSMIC AWARENESS

I feel cosmically aware for this fleeting moment. Like Captain Marvel in the old comic books way back when. He had these cosmic bands, that were like very large bracelets, and they made him cosmically aware. Connected to the universe. I was never sure what powers they gave him, in the sense of super-hero powers like flying or strength or lasers shooting out of his eyes. Usually, he's go kind of translucent, and you could see outer space inside of his body, and he'd say something about the Power Cosmic, or being Cosmically Aware, and then go beat up whomever he was fighting. But those moments when he'd get into his awareness space always appealed to me when I was a kid. Like he was meditating, or had meditated so much that he could tap into this calm, this truth, this being one with the cosmos, that was awesome. He was sort of a precursor for me to the whole idea of The Force in Star Wars, and idea of being connected to everything, every rock and butterfly and pile of trash and cat and person and star. Letting go. And not is some passive, oh well, things will be what they will be and it is what it is. No, I have always gotten the sense that when you can channel your own cosmic awareness, you become more able to effect change, on every level.

It's like in acting when you go to audition. Whenever I would really want a role, that desire, combined with the fear of not getting it, would often lead to me not getting the role, because instead of just letting go and doing what I do, I'd hold on, freeze up, and not do what I do. On the auditions where either I let myself go and allowed the universe to flow through me, or I just didn't care all that much, I was always able to tap into the role, the monologue, the song, and just let loose. I would check my head at the door, leave my inner critic behind, walk into the room, and kick it in the ass. Now this is not easy, and often I fail in my attempts to be one with the universe, to feel groovy and magic. But it is a worthy goal, and when attained, however fleeting it is, always feels amazing. It's the same feeling when I see a sunrise, or a rabbit in the garden, or hear a piece of music that resonates, laugh at a joke, dance to the music on Alexa while I clean the dishes, and on and on.

I'm a hippie. I'm a consumer. I'm am she and he are we and you are me and Hi Diddly Dee an actor's life for me, a cosmically aware actor turned playwright turned screenwriter, founding member of the SOKF, streaker of renown, Left Foot of Sasquatch, Cryptozoologist, husband, son, brother, grandson, bunch of atoms combined in such a way that I can think and write blogs.

I have forsaken the news for the time being. I am brandishing my cosmic bands, flying to the dark side of the moon, which is where they actually recorded the album of the same name. Little know fact, but true. I leave sparkles in my path.

Here's a song. It's Totally Nude by The Talking Heads

THE UNIVERSE IS COOL

It is. Things happen that make me think there is some sort of purpose, some hand that guides us on our journey from cradle to grave, a kind of fate if you will, that connects us all.

Like the force in Star Wars.

Do you capitalize the Force? Hmmm. Where's Obi Wan when you need him.

Anyway, I went down to Colorado Springs to see the Fine Arts Center's excellent production of Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men", directed by by Scott RC Levy. The show itself was fantastic- which is no surprise, based on the season so far. On a beautiful set, designed by Chris Sheley inspired by the art of Thomas Hart Benton (read more about it here) Levy tells a story of isolation and friendship that is alternately heart warming and heart breaking. Kent D. Burhnam plays the long suffering George, a farm hand down on his luck traveling with his friend Lennie, a man-child who happens to be very strong, played with the perfect mix of delicacy, innocence, and sadness by Logan Ernstthal. Burhham takes a no nonsense approach to the role of George, giving him a natural ease and making the final scene all the more tragic as a result.  Dean Steffen as Curley- a bully and a dandy with a Napoleon complex, is outstanding. Adrian Egolf, as Curly's lonely, flirtatious wife, takes a role that could easily be played as a stereo-type and makes us feel for her, even though she's trouble through and through. And Chris Devenport, as Crooks, practically steals the show in his scene with Lennie. His ease on stage, coupled with some truly dynamic vocal and physical work, is just excellent. If you are anywhere near Colorado Springs, you should go see this show. It's another gem offered up by Mr. Levy and company that shines.

What does this have to do with the Force and all that? Well, I'll tell you.

First off, Adrian Egolf, who plays Curly's wife, also happens to be starring in STRONG TEA, a short film written and directed by yours truly. I had already been planning on seeing Of Mice and Men before I found out that Adrian was in it. Second, at the show, as I read the program bios of the cast, I saw that Kent Burnham had worked at the Western Stage of Salinas, CA. A place I had worked several seasons as an actor, most notably as Adam/Aron in the world premiere, 9 hour trilogy of Steinbeck's East of Eden in 1992 and again in 1994. Something was trying to click in my little mind as I read that in   his bio. After the show, there was a talkback with the cast and director- and I asked Kent about his work at Western Stage- turns out he did the 2000 production of East of Eden, and played Adam/Aron as well. On top of that, we had hung out together a couple of times on the Lower East Side of NYC long ago. Weird, no? Well, maybe not weird, but cool.

Speaking of cool- please take a moment to check out the first trailer for my film- Adrian is the dark haired beauty. Devon James plays the blonde with the temper. And Tim McCracken, who plays the lead, was in the cast of East of Eden with me in 1992.

That's about it for now. Gotta keep on keeping on.