Independence day. The conversation around the table turns to direct storytelling, words, and human presence, nothing else, which brings us to immediate feedback, the overflow of information, saturation, and a basic need for simplicity.
Etienne Decroux said it many years ago; one of the lessons I remember from back then I was never quite able to implement in my creations: “Too much is never enough.” For a few years now, I have heard myself say this to the people who come to our space: “we try to keep it simple.” I honestly do. Take this blog, for example.
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you may notice this attempt (I admit, not always successful):
* A fixed format
* An effort not to be too lengthy
* An honest attempt to speak to you from the heart
It’s not always easy, but there’s something about the pandemic, I think, that shifted us all towards a profound intolerance for B.S. When we’re left to our own devices (Isolated at home) or under compulsion of specific behaviors in public, vaccinations, or subject to numerous tests to be eligible for travel, work, study, or even shop… We run out of patience.
I think it’s a good thing. Keeping it simple is a good thing to aspire to. Getting lost is very easy if we don’t practice our simplicity skills.
I agree with Decroux. It has also been said by quite a few others that “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
This blog speaks about things I’ve learned through 30 years of creative work. It is also an attempt to communicate some essential insights I gain through the research I do for the writing of my book. Ultimately, with the book and the research around it, I wish to put this acquired knowledge and experience at your service.
There are many ways to do this. These days, the most exciting way for me is to work with organizations to develop and foster creative environments for their “spaces,” physical and mental, to be well prepared to meet any uncertain future we may all be facing.
If you wish to discuss more ways we can work together, talk to me.
My family was disrupted when I was five years old, when Tal, my brother, died in the Yom Kippur war in 1973. But, like with the state of Israel, one could argue the seeds of that disruption were already there for years waiting for the right moment to burst and bloom. My brother’s death was that abrupt but decisive moment in my family.
Optimal Performance is then, in this new definition, the art, and science of being ready. Ready to perform at your best whenever you are required to do so. Ready to be your best for your mission in life, whatever it may be, and whenever. Because if there is one person in the audience, you must be your best and give your all. You never know what that person will take from that encounter.
