I was watching Charlie Rose last week as I was trying to put myself to sleep and he had half an hour dedicated to discussing the life and work of J.D. Salinger. Charlie Rose asked his guest Adam Gopnick of the New Yorker, who wrote last week’s piece “Remembering J.D. Salinger," what he learned from Salinger as a writer. Gopnick answered:
“I learned that the only thing that matters for a writer is not how clever you are – the only courage that matters is the courage to write the thing you want to read. Not to be afraid of the thing that seems to matter the most to you…the experience of becoming an artist [a writer] is learning to not throw out your authentic obsession, it’s learning to recognize your authentic obsession. Which most the time people don’t want you to write about because it’s embarrassing in some way – that your authentic obsession is your real material.”
This struck me as being extremely profound.
Your authentic obsession IS your material.
As I’ve been working in the past week on material for 2010 Summer Buran I’ve kept this notion close to me.
We so often try to ignore the material that keeps welling up time and time again- whether as actors, composers, musicians, designers - but by ignoring that we suffer the consequences of not doing the work that lives in us most fully, honestly, and whole-heartedly, in a way that makes it individualistic.
It got me thinking about my obsessions, like my obsession to figuratively meet Chekhov in my writing.
Or my obsession with familial situations. Or with the Marx Brothers. Or with Shirley Temple. Or Leonard Cohen. Or sloppy staging. Or people on stage with their mouths full. Or stark colors or no color at all. Or musical moments that have no place on stage. These are things I find myself wanting to bring into the picture time and time again.
Finding your true authentic obsession. I’m surely still figuring that out for myself.
I want to know, what is your true authentic obsession?
Do you find this notion freeing? Or ridiculous?
What does this mean? Your authentic obsession?
Is obsession the right word for it?
How can we share what is singularly our obsession. Is that selfish? Or is it selfish not to embrace it?
Talk amongst yourselves!
-Adam
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I haven't responded to this post for over a week because I am, for whatever reason, a bit intimidated by it. It's an intense concept. Perhaps I was intimidated because at this moment I don't think of myself as a writer, and I was approaching it from that angle. So I'll abandon that idea and just think of my authentic obsession(s) for life on the whole.
ReplyDeleteTravel. I think about it ALL the time. Almost every second of the day. Watching the Olympics has almost driven me over the edge. The Parade of Nations-so many lands yet to be seen...by me. :) I want to experience. I want to get uncomfortable. I want to scour the globe. As Jacques Lecoq said, "Tout bouge." Everything moves. So must I.
I've got to agree with the obsession with familial situations, Adam. The inner workings of a family. Ups and downs and stagnancy. The baggage, the secrets, the communication-lacking, nonverbal, in excess, the love-exposed and unspoken. And unconditional. And not. All the time, little details, facts, stories I've never heard before will slip out from various members of my family. I think I have someone figured out and then BAM...turns out I had no idea. Or BAM...what I hear just makes my love for that person reach new heights. God, families are so simple and so complicated. I just find myself wanting to know more and more, but at the same time quite nervous about what I'll discover.
I want to do things wrong. I do all the time anyway on accident or subconsciously. Or drunk. I get the urge to do it purposefully. I rarely do. Most often it's on stage. I'd like to see more of that.
I would definitely call these things obsessions. I'm preoccupied by them. I connect everything back to them. I feel a compelling motivation. The idea of acting upon them sounds insanely freeing. Perhaps a bit frightening at times, but that probably means they're worthwhile.
To me it only seems natural to work with your obsession. Unless it's maybe stalking...murdering. But I suppose writing about it would be okay. :) Obsession is honesty, and God do I love to see that on stage. Maybe it's selfish, but that's only one factor. There's a reason behind the obsession. It's more than likely someone else feels the same way. And sharing an obsession is still sharing. And that's at the heart of theatre.