Quote Of The Day

Today's quote can double as a mantra of the day: 

'To Thine Own Self Be True' - from Hamlet by William Shakespeare

The search for truth is a classic human need as is the search for meaning. And to some - truth IS meaning. But to be true to one's SELF - one must know themselves, in and out. That is a life long practice... 'to know thyself..' I wouldn't be surprised if Shakespeare was inspired by the Ancient greek saying 'Know Thyself' when he wrote Polonius's famous speech to Hamlet. Self awareness is the ket for my work as an actor. Why? Because for the art form of acting - my instrument is my SELF, and the more I understand what makes me tick... what are my fears, my inner child's wounds, my desires, my habits, my sensorial life, my imagined life... the more I have tools to play with when creating a character and play in its own TRUTH. 

Important to mention that in Shakespeare's speech, the word truth also can be interpreted as 'decent' or of 'high moral' as the entire speech refers to the need to live a good and balanced life. The connection between truth and morality is interesting to me and raises some questions: Is personal morality the same as a grounded truth about ourselves? I think some moral stands we learn from our environment; the society dictates them to us. Some are taught to us by our parents or caretakers (if we are lucky to have them) but there are some moral truth that are also present in the wild, in the animal kingdom. What are those to us? What morality is derived by nature and which from nurture? And does that make either of them less 'truthful'? ~Just some random philosophical questions on a chilly Wednesday evening....~