Your “I AM” Humanities/Passion Personality- Part Two
In my “Acting For Real” seminars, I discuss Man’s desires and strivings in life are first prompted by his feelings, emotions, and beliefs.
He has always responded more quickly whenever his emotions, and therefore his imagination, have been aroused to the level of passion.
His imagination has not only been the starting point, but the driving force that produces his outcomes. All religions, adventures, systems of education, discoveries in art and science, and all forms of sport and business, are expressed through some force of emotional action;
In other words, through the medium of behavior.
“Humanities/Passion” is the first example of that behavior.
The first enlightened “I AM” personality is humanities/passion. It is the most powerful “I AM” because it reveals passionate and total commitment to your self worth.
Your “I AM” humanities personality represents the power of your belief system and what you stand for.
If you believe in it passionately, it will reveal itself with emotional energy and power. This is your chance to discover which core beliefs truly make you passionate, and to make sure that they are rooted in a motivation to help mankind.
Every professional who provides a service to mankind, including doctors, lawyers, teachers, police officers, politicians, religious leaders, and firefighters – is a humanitarian at heart.
Even if they seem to lose their passion for their work over a period of time and become jaded, they will reveal their humanities in some way or another.
This “I AM” personality is the foundation of their belief system – it has to be. Humanities and passion are the essence of who they are and what they do.
Duplicating the “I AM” Humanities Personality
“We must act out passion before we can feel it.”Jean-Paul Sartre
Observation is the key to self-awareness and change. So do you see yourself as a humanitarian? If you do, how does it manifest itself in your behavior?
Do you get excited about your political convictions and passionately jump onto your soapbox on Election Day? How far do you go with your emotions and energy to prove a point or that you’re right?
Do you have any of these qualities? Does any of this sound familiar to you? If you answered, “YES!” to any of these, at some time or another you have revealed to your audience your “I AM” humanities personality.
Make a list of everything that you are “for” in life. What are you willing to debate or argue about? What is important to you? What do you stand for? Who are you? What are your causes? What are you passionate about?
For example, here’s mine:
1) Education – I’m pro-education and passionately in favor of a superior reading level across the board!
2) Enlightenment – People should be working on themselves throughout their life; Rekindle the higher power within you!
3) Environmentalism – Save the Earth! Stop polluting! Recycle! Love Mother Nature
4) Pro-Arts and Humanities – Stop cutting the arts and humanities education in our public schools!
Get a piece of paper and make your list. Now, stand up and read it out loud. Observe what your voice does as your level of passion fluctuates.
For you to be able to reveal your “I AM” humanities personality, you have to get involved in life! Be a volunteer! Give back!
Here are some acting exercises to give you more fun ways to duplicate and reveal your “I AM” Humanities personality.
Awards Night Exercise
Observe the behavior of the award recipient. These are humanitarian speeches coming from love and a cause. Notice how they are always encourage others to follow their dreams, as they are being rewarded for doing the same. As they are receiving, they are simultaneously giving to others.
The acceptance speech is where the recipients connect their external behavior with their internal emotions and passion.
Internal – their cause and love of mankind, and devotion to those who helped drive them to success,
External – revealing that passion through Body Language..
Now, practice giving your own award acceptance speech, duplicating some of the Body Language gestures you observed on award shows.
Square up, lean forward, look at your audience, and keep your hands up near your heart. Your heart is in present time. It is your balance point – your center.
All of your actions and behaviors that arise from your heart, will be humanities driven.
Who are you going to thank in your speech? Make a list of everyone in your life who has contributed to the person you are today.
The people who gave of themselves to create you – your family, friends, loved ones – did so from their heart. As you thank them in your award speech, you will fully realize how powerful humanitarian acts are.
You will also build your self-esteem, as you once again take stock of your store and what you have to offer the world as a humanitarian.
Picture Exercise
Find a magazine or newspaper picture in which a person is revealing the “I AM” humanities/passion personality.
Now duplicate that picture (costume, pose, mood, etc.) and freeze until you get a sense of the emotion. Hold onto that emotion.
Post the picture up somewhere and walk, talk, and move, the way that person would talk, using your own humanitarian causes. Do this for all the causes on your list. You are now creating the Body Language of the person in that picture and connecting it to your own internal emotions!
Next, try it out on your friends. Convince them that what you believe in is the right way. Be powerful! Use your passion to change their minds and get them to see your side!
Examples of humanities performances by actors to model:
Russell Crowe – The Insider
Robin Wright – Forrest Gump
Tom Hanks – Philadelphia
Sally Field – Norma Rae
Robert Redford – All The President’s Men
Marlon Brando – On The Waterfront
Meryl Streep – Sophie’s Choice
Make your own list of humanitarians to model. Observe television evangelists and preachers. What do you see? What kind of gestures do they make?
The movements of their arms are generally uplifting and energetic as they move about, almost in a dance. They are charged with magnetic presence .
Next, watch some politicians and activists. What do they have in common? Their physical gestures include clenched fists, sawing the air, hands over their heads, strong emotions in their voices -
Their entire body vibrates with power and forcefulness. Their Body Language is squared up, leaning forward and on the balls of there feet.
Have you ever got up in the morning on the wrong side of the bed? Ever have a case of the “Monday morning blues”? Now, hold your hands above your head, palms up and facing out, reaching toward the sky.
Hold this pose for one minute. While doing this exercise let every emotion that is pulling you down – fly out through your fingertips.
Go back to your “soapbox list” again. Get up on a chair, the couch, or anything that will make you taller. I want you to get the feeling that you are above everyone else.
Use the Body Language gesture that you just learned (palms out, arms outstretched overhead). Now you’re ready to do some preaching’ about your causes!
Let the emotions wash over you! Don’t censor yourself! Have fun! You’re connecting with yourself while conveying your passion to others!
Do these exercises every day for a few minutes, using each of your impassioned causes. Try them in different movements and positions – standing, sitting, walking, moving, etc.
The most important thing is to keep your hand gestures above your heart at all times. You can’t get excited about anything with your arms hanging lifelessly at your sides, just as you can’t be depressed about anything with your hands up over your head!
Keep your dukes up!
After doing this for a period of time by yourself, try it out in front of other people. Observe yourself when you’re talking to someone about one of your causes, take note of the psychological gestures that excite them, and remember to duplicate those gestures next time.
Congratulations, you have now successfully revealed and taken ownership of your “I AM” humanities/passion personality!
Now go out and Reveal your passion!
Give Something Back! Be Bop!
