The amazing Tom Hanks won back-to-back Oscars for Best Actor in 1994 (Philadelphia) and 1995 (Forrest Gump). The gold statue is an award for show-biz talent presented annually to the person judged as ‘best’ by a consortium of their peers. One of the reasons why the recipients of these prestigious little icons sometimes lose a bit of composure during the acceptance phase of the process is that only they (and sometimes their significant others or lawyers) know all that went into said process. The ramp up, the rehearsal, the practice, the dedication, the long days and multiple takes. To reach the pinnacle of movie stardom is like that proverbial iceberg, we only see the tip, the completed work in all its majesty and not the effort, skill and dedication required to get there. One can, as one should, make the same comparison with athletes who have reached this special pointy-part of the summit, the absolute best.
Hanks has said that concentration and focus are indispensable in ordinal affairs as well as spiritual pursuits. He said that he felt so harried and frenetic during those two demanding years that he disciplined himself to sit daily to write ‘just to find relief from everything and concentrate on ONE THING in order to calm down and relax my mind’.
We talk about the powerful combination of focus and relaxation so much that we have now connected them with a hyphen to illustrate their connectivity. Hence the oft-referenced concept of the state of relaxed-focus we seek during performance, on either a stage, during a close-up or on a field of play. Further, there is no reason why this seemingly esoteric and mysterious amalgam cannot be applied in any situation or circumstance. In the military, and please don’t forget that Hanks won another Oscar for his role in Saving Private Ryan (1999), they call this relaxed-focus drill, ‘grace under fire’. Quarterbacks, point guards, all-star shortstops, supporting actors, tuba players, comedians, track sprinters, endurance athletes, students, teachers, surgeons, artists and middle managers all know, or need to get to know, the importance of this practice.
My analysis indicates that it is more important than speed, more critical than raw explosive power, more defining than endurance and more misunderstood than the infield fly rule or stage lighting. It is the Catch-22 of the performance arts.
The twofold path referenced today, as brilliantly defined by Mr Hanks, is exactly why I do this every day. It is part discipline, part creative expression, part therapy, part joy and part exploratory adventure. It has, in its Zen-ness the need to focus on one thing, and not ride the runaway train of a thousand things all fighting for attention, resolution and destination. There is this. Do this now. Try to make it new, fresh and important, even if that means simply logging the daily events, challenges, insights, struggles, communications, dreams, hits or misses.
Practice that with all the chores on the to-do list today. One thing. With relaxed-focus. You have the capacity to add joy, awareness, gratitude and forgiveness to that mix. Take that into the training dojo and apply its fundamentals to your exercise practice. Inhale all the positive energy spiraling around your consciousness like enlightened fireflies and exhale your precious fear of failure. LET IT GO. Relax into your power and bring the magic and miraculous of you, here, today, now into sharp focus.
In any category that will make you Oscar worthy.
Photo caption: The mechanic as mystic: Deep into his work.
No comments:
Post a Comment