We tend to think of performers as superfluous, attention-hungry people, who want nothing more than to have eyes on them. But they are offering to us a great service.

Performers act out the drama of life on the stage. The audience needs them so that they can see themselves. It's so hard to look at ourselves and our own stories because we're living them, but when we see someone else in their story, we can see it all so clearly.

But without the audience, the performer doesn't get what they so desperately need ... to be seen. That yearning to be seen is again what we all need, so once again the performer is acting out what we all desire on a deeper level.

The performer makes a sacrifice by being on stage. They are often accused of having huge egos but what we forget is that the ego is necessary to get them on the stage to begin with. Who in their right mind would put themselves in a position to be vulnerable in front of a group, knowing what at any moment they could sing the wrong note, forget their lines, trip and fall on their face for all to see?

As I heard Chris Thile say once, "My love of attention is far greater than my fear of embarrassment."

By being up on stage, the performer is subject to all the projections from the audience. We judge them, criticize them, put them on a pedestal. We don't see them as they are, we see them as we are.

The best performers are the ones that know this. They realize that they aren't the ones playing, they are a part of the play between performer an audience, only half of the equation. The best audience, on the other hand, doesn't realize this at all. They get absorbed in the story. Hurt when the performer hurts, laugh when the performer gets themselves in a funny situation.

By getting to watch performers, we get to see ourselves. What gets causally referred to as "entertainment" is actually often the most accurate mirror we'll ever look into.

Your turn:

Are you someone that enjoys being the performer? Why?
When was the last time you got absorbed in watching a performance? What was it and how did it makes you feel?