Hey there,
Good morning and happy Sunday to you,

I am so incredibly grateful to be able to do what I love for my job. This weekend I brought my show, Vincent to Sonoma for three benefit shows. They all sold out so we were able to raise a lot of money for the community, and I got the chance to share Vincent with 450 new people.

But the best part was being able to simply do what I love to do – act. I don’t know why acting is such an incredible experience for me. I just know that it is and that I am so blessed and grateful to be able to do it.
What are you grateful on this beautiful morning? What’s the one thing that happened for you or to you this week that really deserves a moment of honoring and reflection?

Please don’t read on until you take that moment.

… I’ll wait.

Now smile. Really reeeeeeeeeeaaaaallllllyyyyy smile.

Doesn’t that feel better?

Today’s newsletter is going to be a little shorter than usual as I have to get ready for one final matinee performance but it’s tied into the show. Last night during the post show Q&A I was asked what happened to Vincent. Was he bipolar? Manic? Depressed? Crazy?

Yes, yes, yes and yes!

Vincent had periods in his life where he felt all these things.

He started painting at 27 and killed himself at 37. In those ten years he painted non-stop. He often went weeks without anything to eat except bread and coffee. He also had long stretches where he couldn’t sleep so he began to drink to calm his mind.

He was working with lead paints every day and God knows the hell that brought to him physically, but it definitely contributed to his teeth rotting out after two years and his constant headaches.

And yet in the last 70 days of his life he turned out 100 pieces of work! Some of those are considered his greatest masterpieces. So even near the end he was healthy and lucid enough to tap into his gifts and his genius. He knew exactly what he was doing.

Yet he chose to end his life instead of facing it.

Why?

There were a lot of contributing factors to his emotional struggles but the bottom line was this – he didn’t have ANY balance in his life.

So I have a question for you. What is the number one thing in your life that is out of balance? Diet? Physical health? Mental health? Spiritual health? Work? Play? Relationship(s)?

What is IT?

What’s the one thing that if you were to balance it out your life would be happier, healthier, and more empowered?

My next question is what are you going to do about it?

For me it’s working out. I do go to the gym almost every day but my workouts have become soft and so have I. When I’m in shape it affects everything else in my life in the most positive way, and when I’m not it affects everything in a negative way.

And so the next question for myself is what am I going to do about it?

Balance brings happiness and I want to be happy so the second I’m done with this I am going to go crush a workout. I also know that one day in a row is not a comeback so this is what else I’m going to do – by next Sunday I will have worked out every day for one hour.

Yikes! Just saying it makes my body start to get sore!

I’ll let you know how I did next week.

Please do the same. Share with us what’s out of balance and your strategy for getting it turned around on our Artistic Family Facebook page.

I’m rooting for you because you deserve to be happier, healthier and more empowered.

Right?
Right.

My love and best,
Jim