"Measure Your Possibilities"

I can remember Marcel Marceau periodically saying to us as students, “Measure your possibilities.” Like most of his ‘quotables’, this phrase is packed with meaning and wisdom. First, Monsieur Marceau was encouraging us to be realistic in what we expect of ourselves. This includes not being too hard on ourselves relative to our artistic gifting and aptitude. Just as there will always be people who are more talented than ourselves, each of us are perceived by some to be more talented than others. Having taken stock of our capacity, we need to be at peace with artistic reality. In this light, it’s important that we be humble regardless of our relative place in our part of the artistic community. Second, embedded in the words of Marceau is a non-judgmental attitude. It’s essential that we don’t look down or think less of performance or visual artists who are not as trained, experienced or proficient as ourselves or others. Third and finally, for now, being able to measure our possibilities includes being increasingly self-aware and evaluating our art on an ongoing basis. Our individual and collective artistic possibilities must be critiqued by both ourselves and others.