5,4,3,2, and...ACTION!!!

It has been too long since I've posted, methinks -
what can I say, confluences (of thought) come when they will, and they go away...
that said: still have no idea quite what Mark's getting at in his Odyssean reflections. Other than this: perhaps he/you (again, the problem of who are we addressing in this blog) are pointing to two contrasting pictures of the ontological nature of art - we do not know which in any piece being made, but hopefully it's the 'around-the-tree' kind? and the tree is God?
yep, that's about all I got on that -time for some of my own:

So, I've been thinking about this idea of 'direction'. Direction in the sense of how the word is used in the theater. Now, there are good directors and then there are bad "directors". What differentiates the two is whether they are giving directions, or whether they are giving destinations - two very different things: A destination is where an actor is supposed to be (physically or emotionally) in a given scene, sadly, many people in the role of director only know how to give these - "be angry", "you love her", "stand further away", etc. Things that, if realized, may very well make a scene more theatrically compelling, but statements that leave an actor somewhat paralyzed. How can one 'be angry'? Sure I can pretend, and that is one vaild way of approaching a certain type of presentational theater, but if it is a realist drama (life-like, and so of import to this thought) - it's not very helpful. Compare this with actual 'directions' which, like when driving a car, are steps one takes to get to where one needs to be (Turn Left, go 3 miles, etc.): "Intimidate him!", "stay as far away as possible", "pretend he has a gun in his back pocket", etc. Statements like these can actually guide an actor into action (interesting what the words reveal - actor, not be-er) and that action can facilitate a certain emotional response or real relationship.
An example of where such principles apply in the real world:
On occasion I have been told, "you are a good man". When this happens, I become uncomfortable, because it is not helpful. If they had said "that was a good deed", changing the verb from 'to be' to 'to do', then I would politely say thank you, but as it stands, what can I say? My pauline understanding of selfhood does not allow me to believe that I am an inherantly 'good' man. Furthermore, even if I believe what others might say about me to be true, and not my own dogma, I am not certain that it would lead me to more good acts, so if goodness was what they wanted to encourage they would then have failed. I know that what you call someone determines how they act - the classic example of the child who is told they are stupid and consequently does poorly in school, despite standard intelligence. However, I think this naming-forming language is only really efficacious in childhood, it is after all developmental psychology. As an adult, i think to be affirmed as good, would lead to a contentment, a resting on the laurels, analgous to what catharsis in the theater might accomplish - satisfaction of emotional compulsion disipating impetus for action (Brecht).
In this example specifically, I think 'goodness' is unattainable (again, protestant theology infuses my thoughts here, but this doesn't nullify their validity, Mark, plus it's nice and po-mo to speak of the unattainability of things, so don't even thing about challenging this point), since it is not a static thing - it looks different in every different situation in every moment. Thus it is always something to be strived for. Plus, If I do not have a platonic view of a metaphysically grounded self, I am left only with a self defined by my actions. Therefore, only if next time I am presented with a chance to do good and I do it can I be called 'good', but then there will be another 'next time' (ad infinitum).

I guess i am just interested in leaving the people I am communicating with possibilites of action - Not to confine them to a set course, not to tell them to change, or stay the same - a richer and more varied affirmation of humanity.