You prep, you prep, you prep. And on the day that you film, you let all of that go. I try to achieve emptiness as much as possible - the Zen thing - to let the deal come out of that nothing.
Interpretation
Preparation is crucial, but letting go is essential for creativity.
In this quote, Jeff Bridges emphasizes the importance of thorough preparation in one's work, particularly in the arts, while also highlighting the need to release control and embrace a state of openness or emptiness during the act of creation. This balance between preparation and spontaneity allows for genuine and authentic expressions to emerge.
In practice
In a workshop setting, a facilitator might quote this to encourage participants to prepare thoroughly but then trust their instincts during the creative process.
We're such a funky species. We're so violent, so greedy - this is how we roll. But what are we going to do about it? How do we move forward given who we are? Because situations don't come out of nothing. They come out of certain conditions.
There are so many things that pop up. If you are paying attention, you can learn every second of the day. Life is my guru.
When I'm working, on sets or stages, my contracts specify in the rider that no plastic bottles be used. When I'm playing with my band, we all use metal and non-plastic containers for drinking to be ecologically sensitive and show others that this is the way to go.
My wife, whenever I'd go off to work and I'd be kind of anxious, she'll say, 'Remember, have fun.' Oh, I forgot, thanks for the reminder. Because sometimes we do forget. We take it all too seriously and there's a lot of joy to be had wherever you are.
35 million people in the U.S. are hungry or don't know where their next meal is coming from, and 13 million of them are children. If another country were doing this to our children, we'd be at war.
It's not enough just to treat women well. We have to work to make sure all men treat women well.
It is better to imitate ancient than modern work.
A work can have in it a pent-up energy, an intense life of its own, independent of the subject it may represent.
Playing and listening to music gives you a sense of fulfilment because you have to put everything in you at its disposal.
Architecture is the thoughtful making of space
Art is dangerous. It is one of the attractions: when it ceases to be dangerous, you don't want it.
To me, art almost always speaks more forcefully when it appears in an imperfect, accidental, and fragmentary way, somehow just signaling its presence, allowing one to feel it through the ineptitude of the interpretation. I prefer the Chopin that reaches me in the street from an open window to the Chopin served in great style from the concert stage.
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