Hey there,
Good morning and a happy Sunday to you!

I’ve been in LA again for the weekend doing my MEISNER play and what I’m so grateful for today are my dear friends. It’s a short list but I have a few very dear friends and this weekend I got to spend time with all three of them at one time!

One lives in Boise, Idaho. One lives in Hermosa Beach and one is about to move back to Thailand.

We got together for lunch and while sitting there I was overcome with such gratitude for the moment because I honestly don’t know when the four of us will ever be together at the same time again.

What are you grateful for today? Either right now in this very moment or for something that happened for you this week that was such a blessing, such a gift?

It feels really good to take a moment and really honor it so I hope you do that.

So we started a new class at my school a few weeks back and I’m always struck by how tough people can be on themselves.

Tough isn’t even the right word.

Really mean.

Hypercritical.

Cruel.

I don’t say this with judgment or criticism. In fact, just the opposite. I have such enormous respect and compassion for every single one of them.  My goodness, the number one fear for most people is getting up in front of other people and that’s what they’re doing every time they come to class so in my opinion they’re heroic because they are facing their fears and insecurities every single time they walk into that room.

But man, that bully-critic starts to hijack them the second I call their name and it gets worse when they “screw up” by making a “mistake.”

They instantly judge themselves as “dumb, stupid, bad, inadequate …less than” instead of celebrating the fact that they’re growing and learning (and this is just one of the many reasons why it is such an honor to teach them the Meisner Technique because Sandy’s genius is ALL about getting as healthy and free as possible).

For most of us, our inner-critic is relentless. It is constantly judging us and most everyone and everything happening to us.

Yet most times we are not even aware of it.

… “The only way out is through.”

If you’ve been reading these newsletters for a while you know how much I love this teaching so today I’d like you to “go through something with me.”

It’s a fun and extremely revealing little experiment someone shared with me recently that puts an incredible spotlight on just how cruel and judgmental we really are.

Ready?

Go find rubber band.

Do that right now.

REALLY! Stop reading and go find a rubber band and if you can’t find a rubber band then get a piece of string or even thread if that’s all you have.

… Ok now either put the rubber band or tie the string loosely around your left wrist.

Now here’s the game. Every single time you judge or criticize something today – I mean anyone, any situation, yourself, others, ANYTHING – I want you to move that rubber band or string to your other wrist.

And back to the other.

And back to the other.

To complete this experiment I need you to do two things at the end of today:

• Go to our Facebook page and tell me how many times you think you moved it back and forth
• Tell me what you learned from this experiment.

By the way, I’ve moved mine three times already and I just put it on five minutes ago (and there’s another one, Jim Jarrett!)

I hope you play with me because I’ve found this to be quite revealing and a real gift.

And who doesn’t love presents!

All right, let’s do this.

I’m excited to hear from you all.

My best,
always,
Jim