Seek Joy

I'm not kidding.

I'm not being lovey-dovey, feel- good sappy, either.

People talk about someone having "IT" all the time. What is "IT"? Well, I have a theory. I believe that "IT" is a relationship to/with joy. It may not be a healthy relationship, but a relationship nonetheless.

You know I'm going to expand on this idea, so why don't you sit back awhile? Get a drink and formulate your rebuttal. I'll be waiting for you on the other end of this post.

There is a human pursuit that is so fundamental that every human on the planet can relate to the struggle. The struggle for happiness, for joy, and for love. If, as an actor, you are making choices that your character believes will lead toward these things you will always be understood. You will always be compelling- if you really do it. Now, this is the point where people come up with all sorts of examples to prove me wrong. The key here is what your character believes, not what is "real". A character contemplating suicide is, indeed, seeking joy. Not through conventional means, but no one ever said that a character has to achieve his/her needs through healthy, psycho-analyst approved methods. To a character such as this, death is the only way through which he/she deserves to feel joy/peace. As usual, this all comes down to circumstances. In the play, circumstances are everything.

Every human action is somehow linked to a search for happiness. Some give in to sadness, hoping that by wading through it they will find serenity on the other side. Some seek to escape the sadness with drugs and alcohol, which may be the only method they know through which they can find some release. Some think that is the only joy they deserve. Some seek joy through ambition, others through sex, and still others through quiet contemplation. There are billions and billions of ways to have a relationship with joy and just because the material you are working on may be sad does not mean that the relationship to joy should be ignored. On the contrary, it is that search that lifts an otherwise depressing tale up from the the muck toward the sublime. A friend once told me that it isn't events that make us cry it is, instead, any change in our feelings of hope. We cry when we lose it and we cry when we feel too much of it. She may be on to something there.

This may seem a rather flip example, but I am so struck by it that I must bring it up. One of the most compelling recent expressions of joy happens four nights a week on Comedy Central. Just watch Stephen Colbert. He is having the time of his life and he can hardly believe it. He's like Harvey Korman and Tim Conway in one, constantly cracking himself up. He knows he has hit his stride and has become so comfortable in his role that he is irresistable to watch. Compare that with the first few shows last year when he was trying so hard and you will see the difference accepting joy makes. Not only should your character seek joy, but you should as well and you should seek it through your work.

If you can't find joy in your work, you just might be in the wrong business.