Simplicity

It hit me gently this morning.
I always think about performance entertainment that I believe does what I believe it should actually do - particularly those which are financially viable. Cirque du Soleil is just about at the top in my book (I have much more to see, of course) and they're coming to Shanghai this month! But I also think of movies and TV shows. When I produced The Peach in 2002, I was very aware of the importance of incorporating elements of spiritual learning, and experiences to which different people can relate. But for most audiences, it proved confusing. In the first episode of Lost, Jack explains to Kate how he was able to save a women who was near death during one of his surgeries. He said he let the panic take over him for just a short while. He decided to count to five, let the fright do whatever it had to do, and then let it go. It worked! This is my favorite TV show, even though it spends most of its time building hype and suspense around nearly sordid strings of events. But it provides its audience with a healthy dosage of practical and spiritual lessons - like learning to accept and embrace our own (good or bad) emotions to become stronger. The truth is, simplicity is the key, like in M. Knight Shyamalan's Signs, where the whole movie is just a context for the conversation between two brothers about faith two thirds of the way through the movie. Abdu'l-Baha only ever mentioned one or two spiritual principles in his talks. The path is outstretched ahead of me, and the sun is shining bright!