Vacuity and Substance

"Never let 'em see you ache"; that's what Mr. Mayer always said. Or was it ass; "Never let 'em see your ass"?"
— Carrie Fisher

Every opportunity to fail is an opportunity to learn, to improve, so that next time you will not fail. Therefore there is no true failure, only valuable steps to take towards your success.

Taking a few lessons from Sun Tzu's The Art Of War. It's been translated in different words, Vacuity and Substance, Illusion and Reality, Weak Points and Strong Points. It's about recognizing and understanding what your resources are, and how it applies in battle.

It's a step just before the next step known as Engaging The Force. Reading that just now, I think of Star Wars, but I don't think that's what Sun Tzu was referring to. Or was it?

Maneuvering/Engaging The Force explains the dangers of direct conflict and how to win those confrontations when they are forced upon you.
- From SUN TZU's The Art Of War

I now turn to advice from yet another old Asian war master. Miyamoto Musashi and his Book Of Five Rings. There are rules in learning his Military Science. Many of those rules can be easily applied to everyday life, and most definitely here and now in my current mind set.

1. Think of what is right and true.
2. Practice and cultivate the science.
3. Become acquainted with the arts.
4. Know the principles of the crafts.
5. Understand the harm and benefit in everything.
6. Learn to see everything accurately.
7. Become aware of what is not obvious.
8. Be careful even in small matters.
9. Do not do anything useless.

Number 9 is what I'll be working on today. While things are being pondered and realized, I must do what I can to make sure I have a clean and efficient base of operations.

In others words, I'll be cleaning house.

"Timing is important in dancing and pipe or string music, for they are in rhythm only if timing is good. Timing and rhythm are also involved in the military arts, shooting bows and guns, and riding horses. In all skills and abilities there is timing.... There is timing in the whole life of the warrior, in his thriving and declining, in his harmony and discord. Similarly, there is timing in the Way of the merchant, in the rise and fall of capital. All things entail rising and falling timing. You must be able to discern this. In strategy there are various timing considerations. From the outset you must know the applicable timing and the inapplicable timing, and from among the large and small things and the fast and slow timings find the relevant timing, first seeing the distance timing and the background timing. This is the main thing in strategy. It is especially important to know the background timing, otherwise your strategy will become uncertain."

- Miyamoto Musashi "The Book Of Five Rings"

And now RICK ASTLEY!

Live for something rather than die for nothing.

Many many things to juggle and sort through, doesn't help that I'm battling a sinus infection, not to mention the day jobs. But at least I like these problems. In the end it helps to look positively at the fact that it's often not about what you don't have, but about what it is you should be happy you don't have. I'm quite happy I'm getting so much response to the casting and crew call. I just hope I can use all of these resources to the best of my ability, and that I can keep on this streak of being contacted by people who want to help.

Knowing that there is support in this area is comforting. Keeps me sane, along with looking at catalogues and listening to Def Leppard. There's alot of downtime at work, which is sometimes excruciating, and since I don't have a working computer at the moment at the day job, I've been looking at gift catalogues, sharper image catalogues, ikea catalogues, etc. Not that I can afford much of the stuff I keep looking at. I just like seeing what's new in the world of technology and consumerism. And since I'm gearing up for a bit of a fight in continuing to make Monster Cops, I've been brushing up on my Miyamoto Musashi. The Book Of Five Rings.

It's amazing how much of what can be learned about Martial Arts, Military Science, Strategy, and Combat can be applied to not only business and life, but to making a movie as well. Particularily from The Earth Scroll where Musashi lists his rules to learning his art. This is from a translation by Thomas Cleary.

1. Think of what is right and true.
2. Practice and cultivate the science.
3. Become acquainted with the arts.
4. Know the principals of the crafts.
5. Understand the harm and benefit in everything.
6. Learn to see everything accurately.
7. Become aware of what is not obvious.
8. Be careful even in small matters.
9. Do not do aything useless.

It's good to look to the past to have advice for the future. But you don't live by advice, you take it with a grain of salt, you let it help you, guide you to make your own decision rather than have it make the decision for you. That's definitely something that needed to be said this week, this year, this life. I feel like I'm in a fight right now, and when I battle I make strategies, I plan, I research, then I strike.

I hope to strike soon. I hope to have something to show for it all. It's a heck of a thing to have this vision in your head you want to show people. It does no good to tell people about it. We're moviemakers dammit! We're made to show you. And I shall, we shall. I'm fighting to get there again.

"A Roman general in the time of Caesar had a motto - "If it is possible, it is done. If it is impossible... it will be done." And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what I live by."

That was from a movie called EVEL KNIEVEL (1971). Not exactly a great movie, but certainly about a great man, and certainly a great quote.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to do my best to get over this distracting sickness, get back to sorting through details, and continue my quest to improve upon Musashi's rules specifically 2,4, and 9.