Dee Wallace - Bright Light: Spiritual Lessons from a Life in Acting

There are so many incredible energies that encouraged me to write this book. Here, I am celebrating the few that actually took it into physical form.

I am extremely grateful to Barbara Neighbors Deal, my agent and cheerleader. It was Barbara who, many years ago, saw the potential in a very raw book called Conscious Creation, agreed to guide and nurture me, and lead me to amazing souls who would be instrumental in its final completion. She never gave up, and has supported me in this second journey with Bright Light.

I am also deeply, deeply indebted to John Nelson for his professional contribution to the writing of Bright Light. Without Johns superb editing, the book simply would not have been written with such a succinct, organized, and directed vision. Johns uncanny ability to take an elusive creative idea and create a solid direction of coherent storytelling is often incomprehensible to me in its clarity. And after each session with him, the direction was so clear and focused that my channel effortlessly opened and created. It was nothing short of magical. It is my belief that this book could not have been written without him, and my honor to include his name on the cover. We were, in every sense, partners in this creative endeavor.

And lastly, I pay homage to my wonderful soul mate, Christopher Stone, who, through the readings with medium John Edward, encouraged me to never give up.

And to my mentor, Charles Conrad, who changed and enlightened my life in miraculous ways.

Intention is a conscious focus of ones life energy. My overall Intention early in life to always be in my creative self brought me everything that made me happy: singing, writing, dancing, acting, and teaching. As long as I chose the intention of joyful creation, everything seemed to be delivered to my doorstep. People showed up at the right time with needed information or to guide my career. Circumstances or synchronicities presented themselves to sweep me along into opportunities I couldnt even imagine.

This flow happened when I stayed in the moment and allowed the Universe to manifest according to its design, not mine, in its own time and in its own way, yet from my clear intention. And I was always grateful for the results. When I interrupted this flow with mental schemes, or tried to control or direct it, I sometimes got what my limited mind desired, but it was not what my greater spirit could conceive.

It might have appeared that my primary intention at any given moment was specific: I intend to dance, I intend to act, I intend to write, etc. But those secondary intentions really were all born from: I have to live from my creative center. When our primary intent is to be in the moment and connected to the greater whole, the Creative Force, our secondary intent or desires are infused with extraordinary energy and lead to greater fulfillment.

When I held on to that intention, if one avenue wasnt the best choice, I would be guided effortlessly into another possibility that was more suitable and rewarding. I often wonder what my life would be like now if I had insisted on remaining a dancer even when it was obvious my creative life was in for a limited run. I certainly would never have had the opportunity to move millions of people in that little film called E.T.!

This spiritual or life lesson applies equally to the actors craft or any creative endeavor. Doing an individual scene, or writing a chapter of a novel, or running a company, is simply a microcosm of the big picture: know what you want and let it unfold magically in its own more expanded way. If you break things down into too many specific ideas of how you think it should play out, the result becomes like most mental attempts in life: predictable, average, and unexciting.

The actor, writer, or corporate executive needs a clear intention, but the magic comes from living and being in the moment, unattached to expectations. Like life, each moment is new and you then have to deal with it truthfully and instinctively. We personally need a clear intention in life: to be love, to be joy, to be fulfilled. But the magic of how that is delivered to us is released to the Universe for limitless expression of that intention.

When our intent or design is too specific, we risk losing our instinctual inspiration and often limit the multi-levels that creation might offer. When we get too specific about results, get into our heads and move out of our hearts, we often receive less of everything. When the actor, writer, or executive moves into total trust of his/her creative ability and its execution, he/she surpasses their own limitations.

When we, as people, move out of our fears into a total trust of the Universe, we are guided and led effortlessly into the magic of all possibilities. Some call it naivet; others call it synchronicity. Nature doesnt think. It creates. The artless simplicity of life is living in the knowing, in beingness, and the trust of authentic truthfulness, a beautiful intention for a life production.

Beingness is another word for the web of life or the world of nature from which we arise; it is our bodys intelligence, the life force that drives us; it is our natural instinctive state of being. When we identify with our ego or mind, we cut ourselves off from its great power. Beingness is based in the moment; it is just what is, without design.

Fear is created from a focus on the past or on the future. It takes you out of the creative moment. In other words, when we are caught up in reaction to the past or projections of the future, we never create in the now. And the moment of now is where all creation takes place. All acting or creative techniques urge you to be in the moment. The few performers or creators that can achieve that surpass the material and become the material. So it is with life: when we can actually be in each moment of our lives, beingness flows through us into the world and we become the creative material of life itself.

Its great edict is that we trust in our lives. Early in my career when I just trusted that the Universe would provide, all my needs were met: people showed up to help me; amazing opportunities appeared out of nowhere. The same applies to all the creative process. As creators, when we dont trust ourselves, we stand back and assess the material. We lose the connection and magic that being in the moment creates, because the lack of trust invokes fear which forces us into control that blocks the flow. The false belief is: if we can control ourselves and thus control the outcome, well be safe.

But as in life, we never really have any control, and the fear that holds us in this false belief actually kills the moment of beingness where the magic of creation happens and things just materialize. With trust comes the knowing that it will happen: money flows, loving relationships jell, our health improves. When we let go of controlling the moment, we are in the beingness that creates it, and the past becomes irrelevant and the future nonexistent. This is when life becomes a constant surprise of unexpected creation.

When we invite our minds to be the conscious director of our clear intention and it chooses beingness over ego, mind serves its highest purpose. When we use our minds driven by fear as a safety net of control, it cuts us off from the beingness of the moment, and this limits creations ability to provide us with all that we need or want. As an actor, when I surrendered to the uniqueness of the moment, the essence of the scene was discovered and I channeled its highest creative expression. When we surrender to the uniqueness of our own beingness, we are guided effortlessly on our magical journey through life.

Our emotional wounds are our stories, our baggage that keeps us tied to our mental safety nets of control and fear. When we can live in the creative, joyful light that is our authentic self, we cast those nets aside for the wings of flight into all possibilities.