stuck but can't shut up (-_-)

Responses to the question, "What's the gap between your beliefs and actions?" Part of a Yinzerspielen project. Live performances in Long Island City (Queens, NY) from June 27-30, 2014. Click "About" for more information.

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"Most of the time people don't...Belief goes out the window when they're in a particular situation."

—Maurice, Long Island City

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"Like what is it like, what's the nature of it? Or...how large is it? Or..."

—Kai, Long Island City

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"I think it's life, basically."

—Joseph, Long Island City

Joseph came up with the same answer as poet Fernando Pessoa.

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"Actually getting from what I believe to what I actually want..."

—Briana, Long Island City

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"I think the gap between beliefs and actions is influence."

-Malaika, Long Island City

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—Anonymous, Long Island City

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—Tonasha, Long Island City

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—Louis, Long Island City

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A guilty conscience.

Anonymous, USA

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#thegap between beliefs and actions stems from #thegap between the head and the heart. Both are integrally connected and indivisible, though the distance between them can feel as vast as an ocean. We act on our beliefs but also on our desires. We feel one thing but believe another. We have conflicting beliefs, conflicting desires, even conflicting actions. Truthfully, it would be easier if there really was a gap between what one believes and what one does. Thus insulated, we could safely judge our actions by our beliefs. This is not always the case. Instead, we are stuck, floundering, in a winding web of beliefs and actions that conform neither with each other nor themselves. #thegap is where and how we attempt to figure it all out: our actions, our beliefs, ourselves.

Gavin White, Art Director/Park Steward, Pittsburgh

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Results of Patrick's 2 days of research into #thegap.

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There is a discrepancy between my beliefs and actions when I hear someone say something with racist or sexist overtones. I generally pretend I didn't hear it.

Riki, USA

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"Immeasurable."

—Anonymous, USA

"Not much."

—Anonymous, USA

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I work in the arts but all I think about is how to achieve a regular salary. I cite oh-so-sexy contemporary leftist texts but never reject a job in the private sector. I tend to be tragically in love with men I do not approve. I believe myself to be an intellectual but spend more time on social networks than reading a decent book and I do as fortune tellers and horoscopes tell me to do. I want to be mobile and not attached to one place but I am talking my parents into getting a loan to buy me an apartment in a town I have many objections against. I miss the people I do not find the time to meet up with.

Ana, Producer/Scholar, Croatia

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—Parag S. Gohel, Actor/Sound Designer, Pittsburgh

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how do you change the system while working within the system? where does one compromise on taking funding for social justice projects from unjust governments, etc?

—Anonymous, USA

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—Ryan McKelvey, Live Artist/Scholar, UK