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Jane Clark's Blog - April 4

Jane Debates Personal Faith and Spirituality

Personal faith. This has been on my mind recently. I'm not talking about religion. Not quite. Certainly not

organized religion. But perhaps the need for a faith in something abstract that makes it possible to chase near impossible goals and remain confident that you will be the one in a million that will succeed in reaching those goals.

I've been thinking about it lately, because I recently indulged a niggle of doubt. I fight doubt with reasoning. I usually win. But it can be a struggle to hold on to the sureness, the knowing without solid proof.

Sure you can examine the past and find things that will validate talent and ability. That talent and ability, having been applied enough over the years, also gives you experience. That experience builds on the power of the talent and abilities. But there is really no way to truly have an unbiased opinion about one's self and one's work. An opinion that can give you that surety. Even if you could, it would still be an unbiased opinion tinged with personal interest.

And there in lies the problem. The entertainment business is based on subjective opinions. For instance, I have scripts being read at the moment. One script was read by a producer who said he thought it was very well written and wanted to see the budget. Another producer thought it was less interesting than another script, which he liked but felt fell "short" in the end. The script that fell "short" was read by an agent at William Morris, who loved it and thought it had a spiritual quality. Another script was declared exciting by one producer and generic by the next. Another thought that script didn't delve deeply enough into a social issue that acts as a backdrop to the action. Follow me? All these people reading the same words, having entirely different reactions. A person could go bonkers if there weren't a reason to believe that in the end the payoff and the proof will be there.

So what is the solution? I suppose it is a little like believing in God (or whatever entity sustains you.) Hold on to signs that verify who you are and that what you have to offer is worthy of success and let that proof act as the foundation for the faith you put in the outcome.

Then work your ass off and leave nothing to chance.

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