Friday, November 18th, 2011

Little Breakthroughs

Buenos Aires

At the corner of Shady Cuidad, de la Paz and Jorge Newberry Streets, is located the ISKCON centre. I have been placed in a guest room, actually the terrace. It’s a modest place with features of the developing world. The monks hang their laundry here, dhotis, lower cloths, kurtas, upper cloths, and even kaupins (monks’ strip cloth underwear), all flying in the wind, hanging from clotheslines. I have the sky with me which offers other inspiration. I was stuck in a particular spot in the development of the play, “Demon”, that I am working on with the community here in preparation for the weekend’s festival, Ratha Yatra. Being situated in this lofty and airy place, I found answers to my puzzles. At this spot I can think and iron out any kinks in my mind. I can think creative. Sure enough, certain breakthroughs occurred, or light bulbs lit up in my head.

To be more specific, I needed a prop for the king in the play, a type of royal seat or throne. I wanted something different. As I paced back and forth on that open terrace in the dimly lit space, a street light revealed to me the perfect rustic looking large spindle like apparatus that once put on its side, made the ideal seat. It was right there on the terrace. Also, when contemplating on how to make the hero, the lion avatar, look large, it came to mind that I could use the 6 young boys in the play to act as an expansion of him to surround the adversary and intimidate him, making him appear small.

Some people say that the greatest ideas, great or small, come from when you are walking or pacing, and so these little breakthroughs are my little testimonies of that truth.

After a 10 hour day of rehearsal, and a 2 hour jaunt on the street with assistant, Facundo, I climbed a narrow stairway to the loft and the terrace to retire. When checking the moisture status of my towel hanging there, I accidentally hit a clothesline at the chocking level by my throat. I could read this as a small omen. To me it just means that you have to watch where you go in life. Just continue to walk with care, chant, and breakthroughs and realizations will manifest.

9 Km