Have you ever seen the Albert Einstein/Marilyn Monroe illusion?
Basically, it's a photograph that is designed to make you see Einstein up close and Marilyn at a distance. It's a fascinating demonstration of how our eyes focus on things at certain distances.
If you're close to the picture you see the finer details (Einstein) but as you move further away the picture blurs together, leaving you with an image of Marilyn Monroe.
Recently, I was talking to someone who said "We're always in a state of hypnosis." As a clinical hypnotist, she viewed the world through her own frame of reference. She felt that we enter a different state of mind depending on which situation we're in, and categorized those mental states as "trance states".
I argued that I didn't view the world that way. As a theater student, I viewed our "different selves" as various roles we were playing. They were all extensions of our self, just slight variations depending on what situation we were in.
We were both looking at the same room - just through different windows.
We all see the world through a different lens, based on our own personal set of experiences. We're forever prisoners of our own mind, unable to truly see the big picture.
As a creative person it's hard to see anything but Einstein. Most of the time I'm too close to my work to see anything else.
I'm my own director, writer, producer, manager, agent, film editor, researcher, marketer, and performer. I'm too self-absorbed and caught up in my own projects to be able to look at my work with a discerning eye.
This is usually apparent after I come offstage and tell my wife "Wow, that was a terrible show." She usually replies "What are you talking about? They were loving it!"
Unable to step back and see the whole picture, I'm dreadfully unaware of how my performance is being perceived. Thus, I am constantly asking for feedback and forcing myself to watch my act on camera (painful) or listen to an audio recording of the show (the horror!).
Feedback is crucial to a career in the arts. As hard as it is to hear, you have to be quiet and listen to what someone else is telling you.
Once, I showed Stephanie two ideas I was working on and asked her which one was better. She said she liked the first option the best and I quickly responded "Really? I like the last one better."
Stephanie has an uncanny way of making a brilliant point in as few words as possible. She paused, then said "Oh, I thought you were asking for my opinion."
After that I ate my words, shut up, and listened to her thoughts. She helped me step back and see it from an outside perspective. With her assistance, I could see the "Einstein" and the "Monroe".
Being open to feedback is hard. It hurts. But you have to do it.
Several years ago, I finished a gig on cloud nine. The show was firing on all cylinders, the audience had been receptive, and I had crushed my performance. I was sure the corporate client would be thrilled and positive it was going to lead to many more bookings.
As I walked offstage a man waved me over, saying "Good show. Can I ask you something?" I smiled and leaned in to shake his hand.
Then he pulled me closer and quietly said "Just thought you should know...your zipper is down."
My fly had been down the whole show!
Sometimes a good show feels bad and sometimes a bad show feels good. And on a rare occasion, the show feels great but no one knows because you forgot to zip your pants.
It's all about perspective.
