Hey there,

Good morning and happy Sunday to you.

I always start these by sharing what I’m grateful for and then asking you to take a moment to do the same.
Today I’m grateful that everyone I know and love is safe since I wrote to you a week ago. There are a lot of people in France who can’t say that.

While I sat here on Thursday watching dolphins and sunsets in paradise, 84 people were killed by a man with so much hate in his heart he honestly believed what he was doing was not only an option, it was a good idea.

How #&#$%@ is that?

And here’s the crazy part – this monster of a human being started off as a brand new baby, an innocent soul full of wonder and goodness and 31 years later, he plowed a truck into innocent people, killing 84 of them, wounding hundreds more and somehow believing what he was doing was for the greater good.

And I’m really sad right now – sad of course for what happened in France, for the lives lost and the thousands and thousands of family and friends whose lives are shattered as I write this.

But I’m also really sad because sometimes it feels like the world really is going mad, like things are getting worse not better.

Orlando.

Dallas.

Nice.

All in the last month alone.

And what makes me so sad is I don’t know what to do about it. It’s not that I have a God complex and it’s certainly not my job to save the world but I’m an actor, an artist, a rabble rouser, a storyteller, an activist, a dreamer so it IS my job to try and make this world better through my stories, through my plays, my films, my humanity, mo voice, and through my art.

But I have moments where it all seems too overwhelming, too big of a mess to affect real change and I think to myself, “What’s the point? Screw it. Just cash it in, move to Hawaii, live off the grid, have a sanctuary for animals, have an amazing garden, and let someone else deal with it.”

In other words, quit.

And I go there.

And this morning I was there.

And I sat with it I really could feel that I had a choice. I can either choose to move to Hawaii and run away or do everything in my power to help make this world better – even if it sometimes feels hopeless.
My teacher, Sanford Meisner, once said, “This world needs you. Life beats down and crushes our souls on a daily basis and good acting, good theater, good films, remind everybody that they have one so as actors, you can literally change someone’s life forever if you work on material that stands for something, that says something. You are part of a very noble profession. You are the ambassadors on behalf of the human condition. What a gift. What an honor. What an opportunity. Think about that on the way to your soap opera audition.”

I love Sandy. And I love him now even more than ever.

I can either choose to quit or choose to keep fighting. I can either choose to lie down or to step up.
I really don’t have a choice. As hopeless as it seems some days, I’m going to do everything I can with what I’ve been blessed with to help and to serve and make this world better.

I’m not quitting.

How about you?

What can you do today to make this world better?

What gifts do you have to share?

Who’s life can you brighten?

What are you going to choose to do? Play Pokemon on your phone or begin writing your screenplay? Or use whatever gifts you’ve been blessed with to make this world better.

Time to choose. But know this. One small candle CAN light up a completely dark room and light ALWAYS trumps darkness.

ALWAYS.

Be that light today.

Please know you are greatly appreciated by me and I hope you and those you love have a safe, blessed week.

Always,
Jim