Article May 22, 1989 Issue

Second Thought

Looking again at news and commentary

George Gurley—April 28, 1988

The Kansas City Times

"'I always tried to get out of my own body when I played a role,' said Kansas City's Actor Emeritus, 89-year-old Art Ellison.

"To illustrate the point, he recalled the time when he was coming down with the flu on the opening day of a play.

"'I went to the doctor and got a shot and almost immediately began to break out with hives,' he said. 'But just before I went on stage, the hives disappeared. Because the character I was playing didn't have hives.'

"As soon as the show was over, Ellison's hives returned."

By George Gurley, The Kansas City Times (Missouri).

Editors' comment: An interesting parallel to this experience is recounted in Science and Health on page 261. An actor's physical difficulties disappeared when it was his turn to go on stage. The author, Mary Baker Eddy, uses the illustration to show the relation between mental and physical conditions. She writes, "The effect of mortal mind on health and happiness is seen in this: If one turns away from the body with such absorbed interest as to forget it, the body experiences no pain."

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