Presence.

Presence.

I've been thinking about my work in the context of this word "Presence" a lot recently. Here's a quote from author, and philosopher John O'Donohue that a teacher of mine turned me on to that touches me:

"Presence is alive. You sense and feel presence; it comes toward you and engages you. Presence is the whole atmosphere of a person or thing. The human body longs for presence. The very structure and shape of the body makes it a living sanctuary of presence."

I have been using the word "embodiment" as a catch-all for that state of being where we are alive, in our bodies, and expressive of what's moving through us, but I love this word Presence and what it opens up for me. Actors have already been using this word, but for whatever reason I’ve always felt “stage-presence” means a kind of charisma; something that you do or cultivate to charm the audience.

Here's how another, much loved teacher of mine framed Presence:

“The ability and willingness to engage deeply in the moment, a whole-body way of being, a radical acknowledgement of what is, and a connection to the vitality and wisdom inherent in who you are.”

Very different from my old idea.

Presence seems to be at the core of my work as a facilitator. I noticed that my own Embodied-Presence can create space for others in the room to come alive. In my classes and workshops I'm always aiming to create and frame exercises that cultivate and make-way for presence. At the end of the day, I'm finding that the intelligent field of Presence seems to take care of most of the creative-work of the actor, and as a therapist, it's Presence that brings us back home to ourselves from our worries, anxieties and other distortions of character.

In acting, there's obviously some intellectual prodding of the script and necessary preparation, but when push comes to shove, it's our innate intelligence that does the heavy lifting. Which, for Presence, is neither "heavy" nor "lifting". Presence has an "effortless" quality that emerges when we choose to stop controlling.

Again, contrary to my old notion.

This is why I love Clown work so much—it's usually fully geared towards humiliating you to the point where you give up trying to control what's funny about you and give in to how your Presence actually expresses itself.

And in that surrender, our own personal Presence emerges and works its magic right through our very being.