Wild and Free

Henry David Thoreau once said, "All good things are wild and free." And as actors this idea is very appealing especially when achieved in ones work. Actors, artists and athletes seem to embody this primitive, exciting energy that so attracts us to them. The words "wild and free" at first glance seem similar in meaning and sit nicely, almost next to each other, without making me think twice. But giving these words a closer look we will see the significant challenge to actually embodying what it means to become "wild and free".

The goal while giving the lectures and teaching and practicing the exercises is to embody this wild free condition myself. It gives a living example and helps my artists to understand and embody what it truly means to be wild and free. At first glance the word wild conjures up all kinds of out there, non conformist actions that present themselves as herky jerky, vulgar acts of random, non consequential expressions. An uncontrolled manic type behavior. This is not the "wild" that I reference, although, even at the base of actions like this is the need to shake up our current condition, which can be personally beneficial in a safe environment not under the influence of any drugs. What an action like this needs to make it socially palatable is freedom at its base. Wild without free is a unconscious explosion of undirected energy that typically gets us into a lot of trouble. Like rebel youth vandalizing or a frustrated worker going on a rampage. 

The kind of wild that I'm referencing is present in every living thing on earth, a natural wild that is required for survival, a wild that loves and kills discriminately to assure the propagation of its species. This energy is what the artist uses for his fuel. He directs it through his skill set and creates. All true creation needs this primal energy at its base.

So what differentiates one wild from the other? The condition of the mind while tapped into primitive energy. If the mind is muddled with negativity or over confident, with all the force of nature behind it, great destruction can occur. If the mind is free of obstruction with all the force of nature behind it then greatness can be achieved and useful goals can be met swiftly and effectively. 

Freedom between the ears is the proper catalyst to life bliss. Freedom mixed with "wild" equals bliss. So freedom needs to be understood, and I'm not writing about the freedom to go places, I'm writing about a freedom that can allow one to move through realtime, a simplified freedom though which all enjoyment manifests, a freedom that opens the heart and frees the spirit, a freedom that can only arrive with the past and the future stored away in their proper places. 

This freedom combined with our wild, primitive core energy is where "All good things are wild and free," emerge from.

Come get wild and free!