When you get on a stage? Or while walking on the road on a random Sunday afternoon?
The successful showman in any show business starts his act as soon as he gets on a stage. But a legendary showman/woman does not need to start their act when they get on a stage. Their act is always on.
Though most of us may not be in a typical show-business, then again, if you think about it, aren’t we all in a way part of some or the other type of show-business?
Whether we’re selling insurance or some EdTech solution, or working for an IT firm as a trainee developer, we are all part of a business. Not a show-business, but a business that impacts the person on the other side. It is not much different from a theatrical act impacting its audience.
So, when do you start your act? Never. The world will benefit the most when we start living our act. Not as a mask. Not as an additional layer. But, in complete harmony with our being. I don’t think it has anything to do with passion, but it has everything to do with temperament. Knowing our temperament is important.
Unfortunately, the dominant culture and systems are not designed to encourage this critical self-discovery. This powerful idea was portrayed by Aldous Huxley in his dystopian novel Brave New World a hundred years back. The idea is simple: when we are constantly surrounded by people, we are deprived of solitude. It is in solitude that most revolutions originate. Because individual revolutions occurring within, ultimately reflect as a collective revolution. Our surroundings rarely seem to be encouraging this solitude, hence the lack of or low awareness of self.
Does it mean understanding your own temperament is a distant dream? I don’t think so. It is much easier and effortless than it is generally touted to be. The solution is simple: cutting the noise. Simple doesn’t mean easy. When we have the sense of self, sense of our inclinations, the sense of the factors that lead to our best selves, we can easily live in harmony with the act. Without having to switch on our act.