What is this thing called “Bop”?
Part 3: Present
Anyone and everyone can achieve BOP! It is that ambiguous state of greatness that top athletes refer to as “being in the zone”—when they’re at the top of their game—performing flawlessly and feeling seemingly effortless joy. Good news! That state of greatness is not just for athletes anymore. BOP = Balanced + Observant + Present.
Balance, the first step in BOP, is essential to everything in life—if you are not in balance the slightest obstacle will knock you off course—that applies physically, mentally and spiritually, but you must begin by balancing your body physically.
Once you are balanced and grounded, sharpening your powers of Observation will not only help you survive, but when mastered, will serve to enlighten you.
BOP is one state of greatness—not three separate concepts. If you’re Observant, you’ll know when you are off Balance—now let’s look at being Present.
To be present in real time with your attention in the here-and-now is the final and most important principle of BOP. It allows you to accept people and things into your life and to comfortably occupy the same space with them. As an Actor for REAL, you must be completely present in your everyday life. Take a moment to put your self in Present-time right now with this simple exercise—get out your journal and tune your sensory acuity into the here-and-now:
- What do you see?
- What do you feel?
- What do you hear?
- What do you taste?
- What do you smell?
Immediately record everything you are taking in right now through your senses. When you repeat this exercise often, you will enhance your ability to be in Present time—the more consciously you do it, the more attuned your sensory acuity will be—you will be focused, in present time, and in BOP!
Tuning your sensory acuity places you in Present time by making you aware of your physical environment. Being real now requires a conscious awareness and understanding of the impulses that determine your actions within that environment. Consciousness is a skill that must be learned and continuously tuned. In “Joyful Wisdom” Nietzsche wrote:
“Consciousness is regarded as a fixed given magnitude! Its growth and intermittences are denied. It is accepted as the unity of the organism.” And goes on to say: “Because men believe that they already posess consciousness, they give themselves very little trouble to acquire it.”
An actor must be aware of how he functions—a conscious state of self-awareness is needed to portray his characters in Present time. He must remain in Present time though he’s distracted by people walking in his sight line, microphones hanging over his head, hot lights on him, off-stage noises and things falling—on top of that, the actor may be revealing heartfelt emotion, but performing them to the camera instead of another actor.
Attention penetrates the very strata of energy and helps to nourish and centralize the mental process. If you are in Present time, your sensory acuity is in tune—you’re listening, you’re Observant—you’re in BOP!
Be BOP!
