Honey's Question

A few days ago, Honey asked me a question in a comment on another post.

She asked me "If you could pass on one line of wisdom, what would it be?"

Well, I've been thinking about the things I've learned over the years in the hope of coming up with something mega-wise, and I haven't really managed it, so here instead are a few things that I'm sure of:

Actors who can do comedy can always do everything else.
This discovery interests me. It's not something that I've been told: I've just worked it out from years of watching and working with actors. The reverse is not necessarily true at all. I met one actress, who'd just had a regular role in Casualty, who said to me, "I don't do comedy. I don't understand what causes people to laugh, and I never attempt it. I just stick to roles with no funny lines because they wouldn't be funny if I said them anyway."

I think it's something to do with the fact that actors who can time a comic line can also time a serious line, or a tragic line - they've just got good timing. And actors who understand what makes something funny also can understand what makes something sad, or moving, or tragic - they just seem to have a better understanding of the human condition.
I'm sure that this applies to those who aren't actors, too.

Trust your instinct about people, rather than any apparent logic that your brain might tell you.
I always think that thinking about things is the thing to do. And sometimes, when meeting people, it just isn't: you can end up as tangled as that last sentence. As I've said before, whenever I've trusted my instinct I've been right. On the few occasions I've let my brain overrule my instinct, I've been wrong. Though this might not be a universally applicable piece of wisdom. Perhaps I've just got good instinct. Or a crap brain.

And, of course, there's much wisdom in the little song from which I've hijacked the line at the top of this blog:

Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think
Enjoy yourself, while you're still in the pink
The years go by as quickly as a wink
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it's later than you think.

I've always been a bit of a workaholic and I'm trying to learn not to be: though I do enjoy my work. At the moment I'm enjoying the Spring, too, amongst other things. Here are some new leaves on the trees in Roundhay Park, Leeds, last night:


It was really rather late and was beginning to get dark, after a fantastic sunny day, and I liked the bright green of the leaves against the darkness.

If you have any lines of wisdom, please let me know.