by Janet Berliner
For those of you who have not seen “Singing in the Rain,” abandon this essay at once and buy, rent, borrow or steal it. Pay particular attention to the incomparable Gene Kelly’s “Gotta Dance.” It’s about passion.
Which has what to do with writing?
Everything.
The late film reviewer and interviewer Stu Kobak wrote:
“Creative juices can flow in most any circumstance. … Today, waiting in the hospital’s ambulatory surgery wing… an old woman limped by with a walker. She bumped into my wheelchair. I noticed she was wearing red shoes. I thought, The Red Shoes, what a fantastic dance movie. Dance, movies, inspiration._..[for] an old woman trying to capture the flair of youth with a pair of colorful shoes. I whipped out my notebook like a gunslinger in a B western, ready to take on the world with words.”
Like Kobak, I am captured by artistic dedication, whether or not it requires sacrifice–as it most often does.
There’s an old joke that goes something like this:
Tourist to New Yorker: “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?”
New Yorker to Tourist: “Practice, Man. Practice.”
To which I would add, be passionate about what you do.
Out of passion and practice grow the flowers of skill. I cry equally when I listen to Chopin’s Preludes, hear Jascha Heifetz play the violin, watch Baryshnikov fly across a stage or see a master carpenter run his fingers over a piece of his finished work.
Talent, you say. How lucky to be so blessed.
Yes, but–
Frédéric François Chopin lived for only 39 years. By the time he was seven, he was composing and by eight he played his first concert. While his love affairs are well known, it is his passion for the piano that lives on.
Jascha Heifetz started violin lessons at age five. It is said that, around the age of 25, he told Groucho Marx he had been earning a living as a musician since his debut at the age of seven. Groucho apparently answered, “And I suppose before that you were just a bum.”
Ah, but these were geniuses, you say. Perhaps so. In no way do I compare myself with them, but I have passion a’plenty. And I “Practice, Man, practice.”
Example: Ten years or so ago, I was in intensive care, tubes coming out of every orifice; doctors Saying, “Get ready for your Maker.” I covered my bases and asked for a Rabbi, a priest, a Jesuit monk. I also asked for my computer. I had a deadline to meet. At any time I was vaguely compos, I pounded away, which was a good thing because the doctors were wrong.
Another time, confined in an old hospital near a beach in South Africa, I had an idea that wouldn’t let go — an idea born of Morpheus, morphine, my own wheezing and the machinery keeping me alive? Again, I asked for my computer. The story itself died. The passion that drove me to write under those circumstances kept me alive.
No matter what else happens or doesn’t happen in my life, I remain compelled — PASSIONATE — which segues back to where I began with “Singing in the Rain?”
If you wake up in the morning and sing out, “Gotta Dance,” put on your dancing shoes; if your first thought, before sex or food or going to the bathroom is, “Gotta Write,” DO IT. When the dark times attack, DO IT. If you don’t, you’ll lose your passion, and without that, there is nothing.
14 Comments, Comment or Ping
Rick Steinberg
And as an example of the power of passion in creation, stands the passionately creatively beautiful Janet Berliner!
Janet is, to me, what being a writer is all about. Strength of character, freedom of mind; and determined, free-form majestic discovery.
Passion is what separates the creative typist from the writer. Passion is what separates humans from automatons. Passion is the nitro-laced jet fuel that takes a dictionary and makes a work of art fromits contents.
Passion is, well . . . Janet.
Jan 26th, 2007
Frank Wydra
Ah Janice, you are the soul of passion, its fount, its essence.
And you are right about “Gotta Dance, Gotta Write.” What better anthem?
That little old lady with the red shoes? Bet if she clicked them twice she would fly to Kansas and imortality by way of the your notes and the passion you invest in the image.
Good piece, good storytelling.
Frank
Jan 26th, 2007
David Niall Wilson
Who is this Janice, Frank? (:
I love these types of entries, because they serve to refocus energy…to make one remember what is important in all of this…
Great post, as usual Janet…
Dave
Jan 26th, 2007
Sully
Criminy! You can’t read this without being informed by the real passion behind the words about passion. This is Janet. An example in kind. I have no idea how she has kept such balance and grace through the last few dark years, and bear in mind, I did know her before she was encumbered with all this medical oppression. And she came into my life like a hurricane, the way she does for so many people. If you want to write, if you wrestle with muses, pay attention to what a writer for all seasons does when faced with would-be defeats of incredible magnitude. She makes them into inconveniences. The alternative is not an option. And this is why Janet Berliner has survived, thrived, and — though it goes little recorded — has infuenced countless talents of every ilk and stripe across the arts. I dare you to emulate what you see here when next you hit what you think is a wall.
– Sully (Thomas Sullivan)
Jan 26th, 2007
Frank Wydra
Janice? Who is Janice? Bollixed that one, didn’t I? Sorry Janet, but all the other things I wrote are true.
Frank
Jan 26th, 2007
Janet Berliner
Thank you, Gentlemen. I feel truly humbled and Frank,
“A rose by any other name….”
Jan 26th, 2007
Anonymous
Passion indeed. Writing is a love affair, with all the joys and pitfalls of a relationship. Not as easy to get out of, however.
Never cared much for Gene Kelly, though.
–M
Jan 26th, 2007
Janet Berliner
Why is that, Mark? In a long life, closely associated
with dance and dancers, you’re the first.
Jan 26th, 2007
John B. Rosenman
Don’t worry about getting the name wrong, Fran. It happens to all of us.
A good essay, Janet, and so true. Passion. Your story about being sick and written off by doctors is so damned inspiring. PASSION . . . yes, that’s what it’s about. Be bad, be boring, but have passion when you do it. Otherwise, why do it at all?
Somewhere Gene Kelly is still dancing in the rain, I’m sure of it.
Jan 26th, 2007
Janet Berliner
Mssrs Rosenman and Sullivan,
You are too kind (she curtsied prettily).
–Janet
Jan 27th, 2007
Anonymous
Janet — I think Lawrence Watt-Evans would be another.
Regardless of the talent and passion behind it, dancing has always somehow left me cold. That perpetual little smirk of Gene’s always put me off a bit, too. I admire his ability; it’s just never engaged me.
–M
Jan 27th, 2007
John Skipp
Dear gang –
Guess who loves Janet AND Gene Kelly?
Yep! That would be ME!
(Favorite part of SINGING IN THE RAIN, however? Donald O’Conner. “Make ‘Em Laugh.”)
Big love,
Skipp
Jan 28th, 2007
Janet Berliner
Mark - LWE: Why am I not surprised?
Skipp - Love you, too. And that’s a true story.
And Donald O’Conner was fabulous.
–J.
Jan 28th, 2007
George Guthridge
As many of you probably know, I have written with Janet for a couple of decades. An amazing person. I remember one time she climbed into a dumpster because we thought the only copy of our latest rewrite had inadvertently landed there. (Turned out it wasn’t, but that doesn’t lessen the lady’s drive!)
Jan 29th, 2007
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