“My father could have been a great comedian, but he didn’t believe that was possible for him. So, he made a conservative choice and instead he got a job as an accountant. When I was 12 years old, he was let go from that safe job. Our family had to do whatever we could to survive. I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which is that you can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”


(The rest of Jim Carrey’s speech above)

Jim is right. Jim is fulfilled, because he followed his dreams. Jim is one of the most famous comedians in the world. Jim is also depressed.

Jim mentions about the famous choice – which one will drive you – the Love, or the Fear? Love and Fear are the strongest forces influancing the character, according to Lew Hunter in his screenwriting book. You should be aware of that, when you write a screenplay.

“Follow your dreams”, they say. I’m the same, and carpe diem. Homo fortunae suae ipse faber. If you don’t try, you’ll never know. And many others. And it feels good for me. Whole my life I’ve been going my way.  And I do what I love. And it gives me satisfaction. But there is something they’re not telling you.

“Do what you love” means more than you would think.

Let’s take the love to <improv>. You can put there whetaver you like, whatever you do. You discover improv. You watch the shows. You start to have your own opinion. You feel the spark. You are interested. But will there be a chemistry? Depanding on your nature, the period of “fear” is shorter or longer. “Maybe I’m not good enough.” But you think about it more, and more. You decide, you ask. You get the number! You call and book your spot for workshops. And here starts the romance. You don’t know where is it going, you’ve just met. You’re having fun with improv. And it may end as a romance, and you will bump into each other once in a while, just for thrill. It maybe also a nice romance that you will learn something from, but not fall in love, because you love something else. And improv is a bonus.

But maybe, you don’t even realise, when the love comes. Fascination. Just-the-best. You do everything to follow the love, you spend a lot of time on that. You imagine whole life with it. You try to know eeeverything. You start the group, you just do it! You know everything about your fellow improvisers, you understans without words. You train and talk all nights and you’re not even tired. Because this is it. You cannot get enough. Because with improv you feel alive.

You know, love has different phases. And after you dive into your crazy love, you need to slow down a little. Take a breath. Sometimes get irritated. Sometimes argue a little. Clean up. Say you’re sorry. Discover, that mistakes annoy you. That it doesn’t develop as fast as you want. That you may feel stuck. And feel fear. Love is also responsibility. And in case of love to your passion, it’s only yours responsibility. To yourself.

Will you still love, when you see, that not every show is fun, and there are people who don’t like what you do? Will you still love, when you understand, it’s hard work, and a sinusoid of success and failure? Will you still love, even whey you don’t laugh as much, because you’ve already seen it? Will you still love, when your ideas are gone, and you need to search for sparks and inspirations, to thrill you, and dive in again, instead of analising every mistake after going off stage?

When you look at the illusionist, you are enchanted. Fascinated by the magic. But when you go to the other side, to dazzle other people, you need to give up the illusion for yourself.

And you need to love wisely, what you do, to not get bitter. And to lighten up the fire in all the eyes that came to see your magic. And they don’t give a damn about your inner dilemmas, or worse – they will let you turn the fire down, when they see, you don’t have it. You can’t do that to them. You are responsible for them. And for other magicians. You can’t!

Are you ready for the love, that lasts for whole your life? Are you willing to sacrifice that little thrill and innocence to do what you love and be good at it? Are you willing to commit? Do you promise to cherish the love, to make it last, and get better with time, as wine?

Or are you scared?