Hey there,
Good morning and happy Sunday to you!

What am I grateful for today?  It’s really simple.  My daughter arrives this evening from the East Coast for the Thanksgiving holiday and I cannot WAIT to pick her up!

What are you grateful for?  Really take a moment and answer this because it feels really good when you do.
I had a very blessed, wonderful week being a teacher and it all started after the Paris attacks. The reason why it was so incredible was because I had the honor of addressing every single class about one of Sanford Meisner’s most beautiful teachings:

“Being an actor was never supposed to be about fame and money. That’s new. Until recently being an actor was a religious calling because the serious actor took a vow of poverty upon entering this profession, but it was worth it because you literally have the opportunity, the honor, to impact a human being’s life forever if you work on material that stands for something, that says something, and what a responsibility because this world needs you. No exaggeration there.  This world literally needs you.”

I love Sandy.

And man, was he right.

You see, Sanford Meisner believed that to be an actor was a very noble profession because our job is to help humanity see just a bit more, feel just a bit more, and heal just a bit more through our acting, plays and films.

So in classes all week long, I did my best to remind every single student that what they’re doing is important because they’re all growing into their voices and their voices are needed more than ever.
Who knows?  Maybe a current student of ours will someday act in a film or make a film or write a play that is so good, so powerful, and so right that someone who sees it IS forever changed.  And then that person is now empowered to do something, and who knows where that will lead?

“Most people are sleepwalking through life so it’s our job to wake them up. “ …Sanford Meisner

I agree with Sandy 1000%!  Yet sometimes it feels like this world is so lost and so screwed up that “doing something to help” seems either impossible or pointless.

Paris. Beirut. Suicide bombers, downed jetliners, and ISIS are the big issues of the week.

Next week there will be horrific new ones.

Ahhhh f@*&k it.

It IS overwhelming so sleepwalking sounds good.

But we can’t.

Not US. Not us actors, dreamers, and rabble-rousers.

We have the opportunity, the responsibility, the honor and the gift to hold a mirror up for humanity.

So let’s get to work please.

No more waiting. No more sleepwalking.  It’s time. So today I declare it.

What issue are you passionate about?  How you can help make this world better through your voice, your talent and your gifts?

It’s time.

This world needs you.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and my very best,

Jim

P.S.  – My mom was a pacifist.  Her issue was war and the death penalty.  The bumper sticker on her car said it all: “I think when Jesus said, ‘Love thy neighbor’ he probably meant don’t kill him.”

My mom was really cool.