More Than MoMA
The only resolution I have is to not have any resolutions. I do, however, set clear intentions around this time of year. One of my intentions is to live life outside of my vocal booth a bit more than I have been these past couple of years. That doesn't mean that I wish for less work; Quite the contrary - I anticipate more work. However, I also want to live more life through more experiences with the world, my environment, and people. By doing so, I will bring more of my self to my work; more humanity, if you will. In turn, the connection with the written word will become more... well... alive. This can only be done, if I am open and accept things as they unfold.
Yesterday, my intention was to see the Tim Burton exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art (the MoMA) early in the morning and be back in my studio before work starts rolling in (usually around 12PM-1PM or so.) I knew that on weekends, the MoMA requires that you reserve time slots for this very popular exhibit, but they only suggest you do so on weekdays. I assumed (yeah, yeah, I know) that since they only suggested time slot reservations on weekdays that it wouldn't be busy; Especially after the holiday season. I was wrong.
To make a long story short, I did in fact arrive at the MoMA relatively early (around 11AM). I was greeted with a long line (that spilled out onto the sidewalk.) I was informed that the earliest available time slot for the Tim Burton exhibit was 3:30 PM. Killing time in New York, for me, translates into lots of walking, people watching, and Starbucks. Despite the freezing weather, I opened myself to experience what the day had in store for me. In turn, I was enriched.
By spending the day with an open mind and therefore a new "eye," I experienced and appreciated things that I would have previously ignored on my high-paced New York walks:
As a result of being open and slowing down, I was enriched by each of these experiences and inspired by the people that created them and, moreover, by the people that partook of them as well. The common thread was indeed LOVE. There was passion and dedication behind each one of those works and establishments. There was joy in the faces of people that visited them. There was gratitude. I, myself, was grateful for having my plans "disrupted," because whatever occurred yesterday, it was a reminder of why I got into this business of voiceover - my love of life, audio, and the written word.
In a way, who we are as artists is frequently overshadowed by who we feel we need to be as entrepreneurs. The end result is that we lose our passion for the work. We begin to focus on the technical and lose the ethereal. We kill the artist and therefore the art. It then becomes only words; Only talking. Only voiceover.
Did I inhale too much bus exhaust or have I been enlightened? Comments welcome.
-Anthony
