Paul's Corner

Time. If you make Time your lover, ensconse yourself in it's necessity and grace, therein will you find the key to enjoying your life. You've tapped it's essence, now immerse yourself in it's flesh. Let it dictate the self-love which you so inherently own and thus emanate. Let the bittersweetness of lost-teeth envelope you with the sweetness and deny your soul the bitterness. In bitterness lies anger and resentment. Subtle, but still there. Time wants you and you need it to continue the spiralled path into yourself. It is a beautiful journey (esp. the love/hate your body revelations) so I encourage you to make love to It, freeing yourself further...

Blessings,
Dhiana

Paul, I really enjoy your "corner". I totally agree with you about enjoying life. We all want to know the secret of a long, happy, prosperous and successful life. It's no secret. It's an attitude. An energy. A formula - e.g. a) do all things in peace; b) achieve personal unity of heart and mind; c) learn truth; d) maintain your body; e) eliminate worry; f) be free from fear; g)know what works for you; g) make, have and keep good friends; h) have a true marriage; i) relax; j) sleep well; k) awake with enthusiasm; l) stop unwanted habits; m) think positively, etc.
LIFE HAS TO BE LIVED, THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO IT. (Eleanor Rossevelt)
God Bless you always!

Paul, I absolutely agree with your comments regarding enjoying life, regardless of who or what we think we are, or would like to be.
For most of my life I pondered who or what I was.
I framed my picture of myself based on what I did for a living and on my achievements (or rather the lack of them, as I saw it. I tend to be a little hard on myself.)
I had been seperated from my family at birth and this left me wondering "who the hell am I???"
About 18 months ago I embarked on a journey of discovery that eventually re-united me with my birth family. I had previously been told that they were dead (mother & father), but it turned out that my mother was alive and my father was also alive until just recently, and so I became aquainted with my family.
This experience was simultaneously bitter and sweet.
When I had all the answers, I realised that the real answer was so obvious and had been there all along.
The lesson here is as follows: The answer to my question regarding who I am, became very clear.
- I am myself, no more and no less. That is all that I am. I am complete within myself. My job, my relatives or my perceptions of what or who I am were all irrelevant. They do not define me.
It was just that plainly simple.
The answer to life may be as equally simple: It's what we allow ourselves to make of it. The trick is to work out what's important. It's usually staring us in the face.
We only have to look.
Take care. Peter

Happy Be-lated Birthday, man! Hope it was a great one :)
My sis and I just watched "Joseph" and we loved it! I was quite surprised at it's Biblical accuracy. Very nicely done. I hope that you are very blessed in your new home and able to fully enjoy that life of yours, for it sounds like this is your heart's desire. Love God, for He makes it possible :)
PS Great choice of names for your daughters!

I'm getting so I humorously call the head-banging-followed-by-enlightenment the Cycle of Continuing Epiphany.

The good thing that it's more of a spring-shape than a circle, spiralling ever upwards. Each time I "get it" again, it sinks in a bit deeper, and I grow up a bit more.

I wonder if we'll still be on the Cycle when we're 70. I hope to just be bouncing on the top of the spring by then!

I've heard this saying before and just ran across it again in one of the books I'm reading:

Show up
Pay attention
Tell the truth
Be open to the outcome

That advice appears sound in that there is so much in life over which we have no control. And then there is the device of turning our turmoil over to a Higher Power:

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

The wisdom in knowing the difference seems to be where most of us trip up. I agree with you that we always have the choice of how to respond. However, I disagree with another post that suggests we can eliminate fear and so on. Emotional reactions are a part of the human condition and cannot be denied. It is our choice as to whether we let them control us or whether we follow the Buddhist pratice of acknowledging our feelings, observing them and then letting them go. I hear it's also less painful that pounding your head against the walls.

Sounds like you need to go easy on yourself. From your previous posts, I gather you've been through several stressful/painful events over the past few years. Add to that the fact that you're trying to provide for your family in a business dictated increasingly by people whose most profound artistic vision is the depth of the green in their corporate bottom line, and I'm not surprised that you're grappling. Maybe it would be helpful to think of this as a time of personal transformation that will bring you greater peace and happiness if you can remember to relinquish control over the outcome.

My husband has been in the business for over 20 years, as have many of our friends. So we have some idea of what you're going through. Wonderfully productive and lucrative periods followed by intense pacing and hand-wringing. Ah, the joys of acting! There's not much any of us can do about it except breathe deeply, laugh often and appreciate the extra time with our loved ones.

Belated Happy Birthday! And congratulations to you and your wife on your 14th wedding anniversary. My husband and I have been married 18 years as of April 1st (Fools' Day). (See reference to "laugh often".) We have two sons, the youngest of whom is just loosing the last of his baby teeth. The oldest lost his first tooth in Mittagong in 1994.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and the stories about your family. Your candid comments are refreshing. I also appreciate learning that the people who have earned my admiration for their work also deserve it for making the effort to live loving and caring lives.

Be well. Be happy. Life is good!

Best wishes to you and yours,

Diane

Dhiana here again...Diane, the Buddhist referance you make is exactly what I was talking about above: acknowledge the feeling; see it; and identify it. (For to deny something you first must see it, thereby predicating it's existence.) Then either let it go or transform it into it's polar opposite. Denying it's entrance into your soul disallows you from wallowing in it, makes no place for a heavy platform upon which it can sit and congeal. (Another Buddhist thought-form, that of the polar opposites--the tiniest particle/idea/enth on one hand and the All/Everything/ Universal Knowledge on the other-- not being able to exist without the other...the Braghman and the Ighman (sp)from what I understand.)

I am thoroughly enjoying reading other's thoughts that stem from Paul's headbanging. (Oh dear...there's that "Pleasure/Pain" thing again!) Sorry, dear ones...no, wait. I'm not sorry. I'm glad I can continue to acknowledge that polarity.

Gads, I need more coffee...

Blessings and Light,
Dhiana

hey paul,
i only recently found out about your corner and i think it's great of you to post, keep in contact and be so open.
you're just such a brilliant actor and dancer and your movies are always such a pleasure to watch - strictly ballroom is just amazing! and you're such a down to earth and good person.
i remember while on a school excursion in Darling Harbour in 98, we saw you and a group, not shy like myself, went and spoke to you while i just
stood there as i like to say, a goose:) i was just so surprised to see you, it was great! i kick myself for being a goose though:)
i'll always remember that day.

i agree with what you said about life in your post and i'm so sorry about your brother.

take care and thankyou.

Alison

Happy Be-Lated Birthday to one of my favorite actors and definitely favorite dancers! I am so glad for your website so that I am able to keep up with your new projects. I recently enjoyed watching "Kick" and "Joseph"....hooray! And look forward to more. Until then, I'll just have to wear out my copies of "Strictly Ballroom" and "Exit to Eden"

Dear Paul,
I watched Strictly Ballroom earlier with my two youngest daughters. Aislyn is 8 going on 16 and Aryana is 6 and my dreamer. When the movie was over, Ary wanted us to get up and dance together. We did! Those are the moments that I treasure, the ones that keep me sane when the rest of life gets in the way.
I too have three daughters. My oldest, Alysia, is 26 and married. I'm going to be 45 soon, will have been married for 27 years the day before my birthday, have raised my stepsons and my oldest daughter and now am raising the two youngest.
I was going to be a singer and a actress. I had wanted that from as young as I can remember. I still do! I put it on hold to raise the oldest, and now again to raise the younger two. But I wouldn't trade it for all the fame and fortune in the world! I've still lots of time to act and sing, but only a short time to watch my daughters grow up! Singing/acting for/with them is much more fun.
I've passed on my love for the arts, for music, for books to all my daughters, just as my mom and dad did for my sister, brother and myself. I've also tried to teach them to trust God and their instincts. And to pray. Every morning on the way to school we say the Lord's Prayer. Try it, it's a great stress reliever to talk to God, to give all your doubts and frustrations over to him. It's much better than yoga and alot less painful!
Whenever you feel life/career pulling you apart, go and watch your children sleep. Then, thank God for your blessings! You have been given some wonderful gifts. Your great talent, yes, but mostly the ones you love and that love you.
At the end of my emails is a verse that helps me, too. Psalms 121:3 Look it up!
Take care and God bless!
Sharon

I wish I had some words of wisdom... some insight or epiphany to share.... unfortunately I can identify all too well with headbanging and not "getting" something I already know.... something Diane said got me thinking; about how refreshing it is to learn that someone who has earned admiration for their work is the kind of person who also deserves admiration for the person they strive to be in their daily living.... I couldn't agree more! I am really impressed with the depth and authenticity of intelligence and self that you are willing to share.... I will definitely be checking in on "the corner" more often. Congratulations and best wishes on all your new projects.....

Having been meaning to see Strictly Ballroom for quite some time, I finally caught it about a month ago. Wow. I've seen it another 3 times since them. Not only is it a good movie but watching you dance is to watch poetry. (I know it's a cliche, but it's true.) I had to find out more about you and I'm glad for this website. I still can't believe you actually post comments and correspond eith your fans on a regular basis. I an only sorry that, being in the US, I've never gotten to see you on TV. Best wishes to you and yours.

Rachel here again.... just a quick thought, and not really related to the topic, but..... I've noticed in various postings that more than a few of your fans here in the US are wondering when or if your newest project(s) will make it over here to the States....(I guess I'm adding myself to that list). I can't speak for the others, but out here in California we've got entire cable tv networks devoted to nothing but food, cooking, home decorating, landscaping, you name it... everything from Martha Stewart to Iron Chef (does anyone in Australia watch Iron Chef? is it available there?)-- it sounds like your show would be a perfect match for at least one of our umpteen-gazillion channels....especially if you plan to include beer with cooking (despite some EXCELLENT smaller-scale breweries, good beer is almost HOPELESSLY underrated in northern CA; even at sporting events you get a better choice of wine than you do beer--hazard of living in wine country, I guess)....hmmmm, this short thought got kinda long.... anyway, any thoughts on if/when your U.S. fans will be able to tune in? Also, someone asked what kind of beer you were holding in the photo... my question is: is it available anywhere in the States that you know of?

Hello Paul this is my first time seeing your corner and it looks pretty cool. My name is Monica, I'm from DALLAS,TEXAS. First off I'm a big fan of yours I love your work, especially Exit To Eden, Joseph, and I just got done watching STRICTLY BALLROOM. I loved it, I didn't know you could really dance, reading more into this site I know now that you were a dancer. Anyways, I love and agree with your views, always be yourself, that what makes you COOL!!!

CON AMOR Y CARINO
(WITH LOVE)
YOUR FAN
MONICA

The only thing we can actually control in life is how we feel and react to whatever life throws our way. One can spend life stressing about the myriad of not-so-important things in life, or they can sit back and enjoy who they are and what is positive. Life is either too long or too short to not spend it enjoying whatever you can. In theory this works for me - application is a little harder. I've spent so much time trying to wrap my head around these and other similar ideas, but I think they are starting to sink in :) I sit back, drink a beer with my husband, watch our pets run around the house, and all is good.

Take care all,

Shannon

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