Puppet Master Highlights

Bernd Ogrodnik

Words of Wisdom

Editor’s Note: I have had the great pleasure of enrolling in the “Academy of the Wooden Puppet” this year… an on-line course in wooden puppet making with puppet master Bernd Ogrodnik. This is a phenomenal experience that leads the student through a deep appreciation for wood, tools, the craft of puppet making and more! Each week Bernd sends a letter of encouragement and philosophical reflection to his students. Below is an excerpt from a letter sent shortly after the war in Gaza escalated to its current crisis status. Reprinted with permission from the author.

“These have been challenging weeks for so many, and I feel the need to focus on our common humanity, on what deeply connects us with each other. In politics, on social media and the news too often a division is propagated, and the trenches are getting deeper and wider.

To disagree is human and can lead to growth and prosperity if we don’t forget to listen instead of only confirming our stance. We might need to admit that seldom are we able to see the whole picture or have all the information and higher truth reserved for ourselves. So, please let us keep the flame alive, the spark, warmth and light of our common humanity.

How to do it when it hurts so bad, and the news are unbearable?  

Service! Serve your neighbor, serve your clients, serve your family, have the spirit of service in your heart and mind from the moment you wake up in the morning. It is the ultimate antidote to feeling helpless and paralyzed, it is a superpower that transcends all trenches. We can lift each other up!

I would like to share my perception of service regarding my own profession as a puppeteer. When I teach my students the Art of Puppet Making, I am repeating it like a sacred Mantra, that all the fine techniques, all the intricate ways of designing and turning pieces of wood into a delicate Puppet, have one fundamental underlying higher purpose called Service.

Puppets are the puppeteer’s medium of expressing themselves, and to communicate to their audience an idea, and inspiration, maybe a well thought-through provocation, healing, a clever way of educating or just simply entertaining. When we try to communicate something, we hope to be understood. So, every technique we invest our time in when building and rehearsing with our puppets, all that hard work is done with one dominant goal in mind: the audience must be served, the audience must understand.

We are powerful beyond measure and most every minute we are given a chance to make a difference in somebody’s life. So, on we go, let’s raise and shine, and make a change for the better in our immediate environment … it will spread on from there. May your creativity be the power of change you dream to see in this world.

Wishing you a fulfilling and creative week and sending you warmest regards from my valley here in Iceland, Bernd Ogrodnik”

For more information on the Academy of the Wooden Puppet:

Email: info@worldsofpuppets.com

Website: www.WorldsOfPuppets.com