A Book of Lenses Ch 6-7 Inspiration
A Book of Lenses Ch 6-7
The Game Begins with an Idea: Inspiration
Shell refers to a juggler he met who taught him about inspiration. The jugglers moves were unique and even those which were not, stood out nonetheless. The juggler said that the secret to his success was his inspiration. He did not copy the moves of others. He did not learn to juggle by watching others. Rather, he looked to everything but juggling for inspiration! A juggle move could represent a flock of birds. Or, a dancer on a Broadway stage. Maybe it could represent the moves of an old man in a park. In taking inspiration from such random places, the juggler stood out because he was filling his performance with soul.
When I lived in South Korea, I would go out to hear the local music. One night, a band played. Technically, they were superb. They had all the right notes. The look. The moves. But, though they had the technique, something was off. They didn't have the soul, the inspiration. It was as if the kids had been taking music lessons their entire lives, knew how to play the most technically difficult songs, and yet had not spent much time exploring music creatively on their own. So, a technically savvy band without that spark of something special resulted!
It's like when people talk AT someone rather than WITH them. There is really no dialogue. And so it goes with inspiration and performance. The performance requires that the inspiration be brought out and shared. And to do this there must be interaction with and receptivity to the audience and visa versa. And that's the magic!
The Game Begins with an Idea: Inspiration
Shell refers to a juggler he met who taught him about inspiration. The jugglers moves were unique and even those which were not, stood out nonetheless. The juggler said that the secret to his success was his inspiration. He did not copy the moves of others. He did not learn to juggle by watching others. Rather, he looked to everything but juggling for inspiration! A juggle move could represent a flock of birds. Or, a dancer on a Broadway stage. Maybe it could represent the moves of an old man in a park. In taking inspiration from such random places, the juggler stood out because he was filling his performance with soul.
When I lived in South Korea, I would go out to hear the local music. One night, a band played. Technically, they were superb. They had all the right notes. The look. The moves. But, though they had the technique, something was off. They didn't have the soul, the inspiration. It was as if the kids had been taking music lessons their entire lives, knew how to play the most technically difficult songs, and yet had not spent much time exploring music creatively on their own. So, a technically savvy band without that spark of something special resulted!
It's like when people talk AT someone rather than WITH them. There is really no dialogue. And so it goes with inspiration and performance. The performance requires that the inspiration be brought out and shared. And to do this there must be interaction with and receptivity to the audience and visa versa. And that's the magic!
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