The Great Acting Blog: “Contentment Is A Prison”

The Great Acting Blog: “Contentment Is A Prison”

We create a structure in our lives and work in order to provide ourselves with the clarity and stability necessary for achieving a specific goal.

Once, however, the goal has been accomplished, the structure we created becomes a prison, locking us into a certain loop of thought, clamping us to the new status quo, so much so that we cannot move on to the next thing. Our progress stalls, we plateau.

In order to move on then, we must destroy the old structure which had helped us but which now represses us. This is, of course, counter-intuitive because we enjoy cosiness, and we view our sense of contentment as a victory, a success, a sign that we have finally brought the world under our control – but this destruction must be carried out otherwise our development will be stunted. And we must travel through the storm and the chaos which will inevitably ensue while we are building the new structure for the new goal. Then, once this difficult work is completed, all the new things we have to offer can be liberated, they will flower.

Accomplish the goal, destroy the structure that helped you do it and create a new one. And repeat.