Good morning beautiful human,
Good morning artist.
My name's Darius and today I wanted to start us off with a beautiful piece of writing.
It's written by a gentleman by the name of Ilya Kazan.
He wrote it many decades ago.
It's called The Actor's Vow.
It's a piece of writing that was originally intended for actors to commit to their craft.
And I heard it a few months ago and I was deeply moved by it because it was clear to me that it was so applicable to any human that believes in themselves,
That believes in their voice,
That believes in their vision and needs a little bit of confidence.
So with your permission I will share it now and allow it to bless your life and my life and our day to come.
Let's begin first and foremost real slowly.
Let's find a nice comfortable seat,
Sitting upright or perhaps laying down.
Just allow yourself to settle in,
Inviting ease and comfort into our day,
Inviting lightness and joy.
I will take my rightful place on the stage and I will be myself.
I am not a cosmic orphan.
I have no reason to be timid.
I will respond as I feel,
Awkwardly,
Vulgarly,
But respond.
I will have my throat open.
I will have my heart open.
I will be vulnerable.
I may have anything or everything the world has to offer,
But the thing I need most and want most is to be myself.
I will admit rejection,
Admit pain,
Admit frustration,
Admit even pettiness,
Admit shame,
Admit outrage,
Admit anything and everything that happens to me.
The best and most human parts of me are those that I have inhabited and hidden from the world.
I will work on it.
I will raise my voice.
I will be heard.
May you be heard today,
Dear artist.
May you share your voice,
May you share your vision,
Even if you are shy,
Even if your voice trembles,
Even if you are not certain.
Your voice matters.
Your voice is important.
May you be heard today.
Thank you for waking up with me.
My name is Darius and I will see you next time.
