Affirmation

This past weekend, I had an affirmation involving my interest in aviation. It was more like an epiphany that turned into an affirmation, really. Let me explain. It all started with Netflix. Being a rather new subscriber to Netflix, I was browsing through the selection of movies. Nothing being out of the ordinary, aviation happened to be on my mind. I searched for movies or anything that had to do with aviation, with little luck.

A few weeks later, I found myself again on Netflix. This time, aviation was not on my mind. I was looking for some movie, something to add to my queue. After find a satisfactory title, the usual "You might also like" window pops up. There it was. My eye was drawn to it in a split second. One Six Right. One Six Right is not a movie, but exactly what the tag line described it to be- "The Romance of Flying." I instantly added it to my queue, and move it to the front of the line. As I returned my latest rental, I waited in anticipation for my recent find to arrive in my mailbox.

When it finally arrived, I naturally began watching it. At first thinking that I had wasted my time waiting for this documentary to arrive, the first minutes or so was nothing but symphonic music and shots of airports and airplanes. I began to ask my self, "Is that it? Just planes flying around to pretty music?" I'm glad I was wrong. After what was a slightly long and boring intro, the film began to cut to the chase.

These pilots, these storytellers began talking about their discovery of aviation- whether they seemed to trip into it, or if they had an innate interest in it from the beginning. Somehow, either they found it, or it found them. That's when it hit me. Hard. While I sat back watching this film, I heard pilots talking about experiences. Some would go to airports and watch the planes take off. Others would get a hand radio and listen in on the communication between pilots and air traffic control. At this point, I distinctly remember looking at myself in the mirror with a huge sense of irony. Indeed, I have done those very things, except in a different fashion.

When I was in grad school, and on occasions where I did not have anything to do, or if I happened to be stressed out, I would find myself driving to the airport. Just the glimpse of an airplane took my mind off of whatever I was worried about. I loved to go to the observation area and simply sit back in my car and watch the planes come in and out. There was something unexplainable about it. The sound of a jet engine, the marriage of man and machine and the ability to conquer gravity. The sleek prowess of the aircraft. Perhaps a combination of everything. Watching planes somehow put my mind at ease. I can still find myself feeling like a kid in a toy store whenever I am near an airport. Looking around, trying to spot planes- watching them take off and land, listening for the roar.

Even now as I have begun my flight training, my appreciation and and perspective has shifted. It is one thing to watch planes, it's another thing to fly them. Much like any skill, it takes practice. The more you practice, the more proficient you are. However, that being said, I have a HUGE appreciation for the feeling of flight. And once again, I find it is indescribable.

Shortly before takeoff, you perform a final check of your gages. Throttle the plane up, checking gages and making sure that your controls are free and correct. The plane aches to inch forward with urgency under the strain of the brakes. After everything checks out, throttle down, and taxi onto the runway. Line up on the center line, making sure you're front wheel is straight. Then, full throttle. The engine speed increases, and you gradually pick up speed. Your gages come alive, and as you continue rolling down the runway you gently pull back on the yoke and continually pull back until the nose of the aircraft rotates up. At this point the airplane almost freezes in position for what feels like minutes. Then suddenly, you've separated from land and are now airborne. You continually gain altitude as you leave the runway. As you trim the plane up to continually climb, the horizion increases. Objects on the ground get smaller and smaller. Feel the plane. Where does it want to go? What does it want to do? Adjust the controls, trim. Repeat. Adjust. After reaching your desired altitude, you pull some throttle off, and re-trim. Now you're cruising. Despite the noise in the cockpit, it's serene. Nothing around you but sky. Breathtaking. It is those moments that stress leaves my body. It's just me, and the plane (and the flight instructor, for now).

One Six Right affirmed in me that this idea of me in aviation is not hair-brained, or half hearted. Since the beginning of my interest in aviation, One Six Right has shown me that with a little bit of effort, and some commitment, you can accomplish what you are pursuing, even if it starts with a simple dream. I have learned not to doubt myself, but to take small steps. Sure, it's going to take a while. But after I get to where I'm going, I'll have the view to enjoy.

Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Life I Learned in Acting Class

Everything I ever needed to know about life I learned in acting class. I have been thinking about this statement for some short time, and the more and more that I think about it, the more evident it becomes to me that it’s true. In my career as an undergraduate student, I was a Drama major. One of the lessons I learned about theatre is that drama imitates life. And sometimes, life imitates drama. Here are a few lessons on life that I learned in acting class.

Lesson One: We all have something to accomplish.
In acting, we call this the “objective.” It’s what a character wants out of the scene. Moreover, there is the super objective, what the character wants in its existence. Sometimes, characters could achieve their objective and other times they weren’t so lucky. Nonetheless, the characters strive for their objective, regardless of the end result. An objective is a foundational piece of what motivates acting. That core desire to gain something. To accomplish something. To earn something. Objectives are usually derived from the phrase “I want to…” Once that objective was achieved, they move on to their next objective.

Lesson Two: There will always be adversity.
These are called obstacles. Obstacles can come in all forms from physical limitations, to specific circumstances of a time period, even to other characters in the story. Some people choose to associate individuals as antagonists. However, I prefer the term "opposing force." Not every story has an antagonist, but every story has an opposing force. There can be no good story line, or plot, without some form of obstacle(s). It is the challenge of overcoming the obstacle that makes acting; it makes the story interesting. Every obstacle encountered is unique to the character. They are forced to finding some way to overcome, circumvent, or avoid such obstacles. Acting calls these tactics, and it’s what actors use to overcome, circumvent, or avoid those obstacles we face. Sometimes these tactics work, and other times they don’t.

Lesson Three: We all walk the hero’s journey.
The hero's journey is the same in theatre as it is in any literary work. Joseph Campbell coined the actually terminology for this model, but since the beginning of literary history, the same formula has been used. To make the long story short, the hero undergoes challenges, opposition, rejection, and through these experiences is transformed, where they are then accepted which ultimately leads to a personal victory and wide popularity.

Obviously, this is a bit different in real life, but some elements of the hero's journey are still true. Not knowing what we face each day, we take it one at a time. Although we we do not face challenges to the point of what we find in classic pieces of literature, they are in a way transforming to us. Specific life events in our experiences change us- graduating from college, getting married, having a child, etc. All of these have some effect on us.

Lesson Four: Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.
You will always need to set some time aside where you can examine or work something till you have it perfected. I was always taught that you have to "hearse" before you rehearse. This lesson has been proved to me many times, and the most recently in the new role that I am in with a current production. I have had to sit myself down and run my lines. I've had to repeat these lines many times, not because I was trying to memorize them, but because I was trying to put the right "color" in them. Repetition also helps in memorizing something.
In acting, there is something known as the "Illusion of the first time." This basically means that when you are performing, you have to make your acting look like you are doing this the first time ever. Oddly enough, the only thing that can make you accomplish this, is doing the action over and over and over. Actor don't get good doing things once. They get good because they've done it time and time again.

Lesson Five: Find your beat(s).
Beats are subtle changes in a scene. They can be something small as a change of thought by a character in a monologue, or the change in direction or shift in "power" in a scene. These beats help actors to further find their objective, and also assist in the overall direction of the entire play. Every single scene is littered with beats, and they can be found grouped together, or scarcely found throughout any scene. Chances are though, if you're not finding a beat, you're not looking hard enough.

Lesson Six: React.
Acting is as much of reacting as it is interpretation. It was Sanford Meisner who really brought this idea to fruition in realistic acting. In every scene where there is more than one person (and often one person) you can only do so much with what you are given. You have to pay attention to the subtle actions and words- where the emphases is placed. It is this reaction that makes the scene engaging and draws the audience in closer to what is happening in the scene.

Lesson Seven: It takes a team.
The art of theatre is very much a well oiled machine. While actors are on the stage performing, the audience is (or should be) unaware of the controlled chaos that is happening around the theatre. Stage hands are running around making sure set pieces are in their proper place, helping actors get in and out of costumes. The stage manager is maintaining every detail of the show, calling light, sound and set cues. Actors are running about preparing for their next scene, and the orchestra, if you're watching musical is blowing through a barrage of notes.
Each and every single member of this production team holds an important role. While the actors are very much the ones who are seen the most, if one person backstage fails to do their task, the entire production suffers. Often times, during a production things can go wrong. Again, an entire company must rely on each other to ensure things are safely and effectively taken care of. That's why at the end of every curtain call, before the actors go off stage, they always point to the booth, the orchestra and acknowledge all those who are not even heard or seen. It's because of them, the production runs smoothly.

Putting it all together.
To sum it all up, acting imitates life. I'm pretty sure we are all walking our own journey. The story of our lives are about us, we're the heroes. As we walk the course of our lives, we are destined to face struggles- obstacles. As we overcome these challenges, we can see ourselves transform through the power of learning from our previous experiences. And as we move on from these struggles we begin to develop new goals (objectives) and set a course for accomplishing that goal. Sometimes, there may be a slight diversion, or even a complete change in what you are after (beat) where we have to abandon what we were after and completely change our ideas or goals about something (reacting). As we set this new course, or even change our goal, we find that there are people who surround us to help us on our way. Life is a journey that is not meant to be traveled alone. I firmly believe that we find people who are close to us to help us as we go on our way. They're friends, family, even complete strangers. Don't forget that you're never going through something where you can't get help.

So there it all is. Acting in a nutshell. Life in a nutshell.

Act well your part, for therein all the honor lies.