11/10/11

Sometimes pieces just fall into place. Today was that day.

Needless to say, it was a very good day. A piece of my imagined life—making a living as an actor and an artist—came to me in reality.

Here’s the kicker: most of it occurred without explicit action. Forces beyond my direct will came to my aid. I was Theseus furnished with the yarn necessary to slay the Minotaur.

I had a Voice Over gig in the suburbs that, without the aid of a car, would have been nearly impossible to meet. Yet, this never occurred to me. I presumed that I could easily use the Metra to get to my destination. 

However, still ignorant of the problem, yesterday morning (and only one day before the actual gig in the burbs), my girlfriend insisted I join she and her family for dinner, stay in their Northbrook home (merely a short jaunt by car to my job), and barrow their minivan the next morning.

Incredible. Her whole family came to my aid. The result: today went off without a hitch and I worked as a professional Voice talent.

Today was a very good day.

Here’s another example of the same phenomenon: Over the last few years, I’ve been talking about blogging. Usually, I said this in passing, wishfully and with a subtext of “if only I were so lucky.” Today, my father, a very practical man not known for his wild support of the arts—there’s no money in it, after all—sent me an email lead on credible blogs that pay. 

Incredible still! I didn’t ask for this. He did it of his own accord.

On one hand, and in both cases, I’m a very blessed by someone or something out there. On the other, I attribute this success to a new addition to my life: active positive thinking.

Now, you can picture this way of thinking through the old saying, “if you put your mind to it, you can do anything.” However, by substituting the word “mind” for “imagination”, you move from an object to the object of an object. In other words, mind is a thing, imagination is a result.

If you can imagine it, you can make it happen. It may not occur in the exact same way, but somehow either that picture, or something different yet as good or better, will, along with the how, manifest. I guarantee it.

Just be sure to go with the flow. And, like Joseph Campbell says, “follow your bliss.”

I understand that’s not always easy. I’m really still learning this myself. But, if there’s anything you can learn from me, do it, follow it and see what happens. And you too, can be like Theseus.