Dirty Rotten Greatness

I made the most thoughtless, thrown-together salad the other day. I grabbed loose shrubbery from the Tupperware at the back of the fridge, diced up half-eaten apples, the last nubs of cucumber, and crumbled mystery cheese. Like the cartoon rat in Ratatouille, but before he stepped into a kitchen. Forged from compost in the yard and created a dish that blew his rat pals away. I put the whole thing in a trough-sized to-go container, dressed it with white balsamic and good olive oil. I packed it up for a weekend cabin trip and pretty much forgot about it. I put it in the fridge and never took it out, almost like I was embarrassed by it. I even made a different "better" salad to go with dinner that night.

When it was time to leave the cabin, everyone was buzzing around cleaning and packing back up. I really didn't want to bring a full container of salad back home with me, so I plopped it in the middle of the table with forks stabbed around it. I didn't even bother with plates; didn't want to offend the plates. I announced, "If anyone hasn't had lunch yet, there's this situation." They started looking like civilized humans when they first poked around at it. By the end, they turned into livestock, neck deep in the trough, fighting over the last bits. They freaked out at how good it was.

WHY is this!?! When there's less pressure, less concern for the final outcome, it comes out so much better! Is it because nothing was on the line? Therefore I was able to move completely intuitively and freely - less carefully.

It reminds me of a documentary I watched recently about Steve Martin, (STEVE!).

It's two episodes: earlier years and recent years. I feel the earlier years were a far better episode. Not because this is when he climbed to the top (who doesn't love watching a rising star story). It's because he was actually pretty terrible. That part was FASCINATING. What's interesting is that even though his earlier years of magic tricks with a disheveled '70s mop under his balloon hat, where the audience was confused and unamused, it really wasn't TOO different from what he did during the successful years. The content wasn't all that different. What changed was the intent behind it.

He went back to school and studied philosophy and was amused by the complexity of simplicity—found the hilarity in it. He saw the whimsy in serious matters and the humor in irony. Steve decided to go more avant-garde—"it's the only way I can do what I want."

This doesn't mean it was all of a sudden working, this epiphany wasn't instant success. There were still some growing pains. He got a writing job for a comedy variety show, first big break. This is the first time though he felt the pressure cooker of needing to be funny on a timeline and for a focus group in a writers room. Where he had to find his funny looseness around a constricting red pen. He started to have panic attacks and felt lost. He made another deliberate change in his approach. He decided to think of work as an end rather than happiness as an end. Care less about the end result and more about the process, focusing on the message throughout. Thats when things started to REALLY take a turn for him. When you stop chasing an expectation, contentment settles in. He stopped trying so hard to be likable, and instead leaned into his weirdness. "Weirdness" that he stopped caring about the wrong people not understanding.

"There are two types of people in the world. Those who understand Steve Martin's humor, and those who don't. The audience had to catch up."

~ Stormie Sherk

He still had plenty of ambition and goals, but it was fueled more by curiosity and less by comparing. He could be funny without being demeaning or crude or finger pointing; rather he wanted to be the thing people pointed at. A literal arrow not to his head, but through it.

He changed his appearance, cut his hair and started to wear nice suits. The irony of a clean cut mature looking man being ridiculous landed so much more. All the other artists and comedians during the 70s, especially during Vietnam War, had really long hair, they were outspoken, and serious. Steve was able to create a satire, poking fun at this while providing much needed relief.

"Well I feel every act should contain some kind of social comment and something really meaningful. So right now I'd like to do balloon animals."

― Steve Martin

Creating so much curiosity and levity in a room that the heaviness of the world feels less stuck. Steve is proof that people are more intrigued by the person who asks great questions and makes you think than by the person who claims to know everything.

Whether it's the way I approach my classes or my salads, I keep being reminded of the same thing: people don't want to experience more of the same thing. The popular Pilates move or recipe that is circulating on IG—they don't want to feel like what they're experiencing is the end result of an AI-generated search. They want MY unique perspective, a genuine connection to their body, but also MY fun take on it. The moves I teach, and the cues that get you into them, aren't me telling you what to feel and when. It just sets you up so you can find it on your own. I'm asking good questions, not giving you all the answers.

Let's approach class this week like my thoughtless, but still intuitively, thrown together salad ... or like Steve Martin walking out on stage wearing a nicely pressed white suit and an arrow through his head. Don't overcomplicate it, and don't take it too seriously. Work with what you have and be curious about where it can go. No pressure or end results attached. See the "work as an end rather than happiness as an end"—or in this case, that comparison or goal you're desperate to attain. If you take the pressure out of it, that's when everything will start to click, and commitment won't feel like work anymore. If anything, it will create more room and levity in the studio and in your body, so the heaviness of the world feels less stuck.

“I've got to keep breathing. It'll be my worst business mistake if I don't.”

― Steve Martin

Excited to make your bodies sweat, smile, and ... well “... you're nuts but you're welcome here.”

XO,

Celeste

"I've got a great practical joke. Do you want to play it on your friends? It's really funny. You're invited to one of those big dinner parties ... walk in and throw the salad on the floor. I did that the last party I went to. That was about two years ago."

― Steve Martin

"Chaos in the midst of chaos isn't funny, but chaos in the midst of order is."

― Steve Martin

"Hard work never killed anybody but why take a chance."

― Steve Martin

“Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you do criticize him, you'll be a mile away and have his shoes.”

― Steve Martin