Cara Winterbottom

[This article is part of a series about how to craft an intentional life using ideas and tools from Constantin Stanislavski’s acting system for working on our inner motive forces. Previous article: Given Circumstances ] This chapter describes a tool of intellect that is crucial for us to act intentionally: breaking our goals into simpler objectives and creating units of the actions to accomplish them. It is daunting to face a complex task. Where do you begin? How will you accomplish everything that needs to be achieved? A common problem-solving strategy is decomposition, which involves breaking complex tasks down into smaller problems or steps. This means that you are not facing an overwhelming task, but smaller, more achievable ones. Solving each smaller problem gets you closer to accomplishing the complex task; it chips away at the task to make it less overwhelming. Units We begin by defining units. Units are about action and progress. The simplest way to define a unit is that it is...

[This article is part of a series about how to craft an intentional life using ideas and tools from Constantin Stanislavski’s acting system for working on our inner motive forces. Previous article: Imagination Part 2: Prompts ] In the previous two chapters, I discussed imagination and Stanislavski’s belief in its power to motivate us and move us to action. He believed this would only be the case if our imaginings were actively pursued, coherent and grounded in reality. Stanislavski made it clear that the use of imagination was only effective for developing a believable character (or, in our case, a future goal) if imagined events were achievable. This is where the idea of given circumstances comes in. In the theatre, given circumstances means “ the story of the play, its facts, events, epoch, time and place of action, conditions of life, the actors’ and regisseur’s interpretation, the mise- en- scene, the production, the sets, the costumes, properties, lighting and sound effects, — all...

[This article is part of a series about how to craft an intentional life using ideas and tools from Constantin Stanislavski’s acting system for working on our inner motive forces. Previous article: Imagination Part 1: The Magic If ] In the previous chapter, I discussed how Stanislavski saw imagination as an important tool of the Intellect. I also introduced the Magic If , Stanislavski’s mechanism for stimulating imagination in our daily lives. Using the Magic If , observing the world around us, and embracing our sensory experiences are excellent ways to trigger the imagination. Even so, imagination can be difficult to prompt if our emotions are not in the right place - we are not in the mood - or we have mental blocks to struggle against. This chapter introduces ideas and techniques from Stanislavski that prompt a reluctant imagination. How to prompt the imagination It’s all very well to say ‘use your imagination’ but that can be difficult to do in each moment. It is well-recognised i...

[This article is part of a series about how to craft an intentional life using ideas and tools from Constantin Stanislavski’s acting system for working on our inner motive forces. Previous article: Concentration of Attention ] Imagination is our ability to visualise or conceptualise an object or scenario that is not in front of us and that we may not have experienced before. Imagination is key for an actor to be able to embody a character and make their experiences believable in a play. In the same way, it is also key to setting goals in life and achieving them. To develop the will to see the journey through and deal with inevitable obstacles, we must be able to imagine what the desired changes look and feel like, how they will affect our current life, and visualise how the path of work and perseverance will get us there. Stanislavski described three different types of truth: actual fact , which is reality and truth as we generally understand it (although even this idea is not simple,...