Meet Bill Oberst Jr.

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Bill Oberst Jr.. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Bill below.

Hi Bill, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.
The only way to feel more loved is to love more. And I mean to love others more – not to love one’s self more. Imposter syndrome, as I’ve experienced it, is what our grandparents’ generation called “humility” crying out for fresh air, smothered as it is beneath the weight of self-absorption. Less introspection, not more, is the only way to restore sanity and (as was most sorely needed in my own case) decency as a human being. The more I thought about me the more miserable I was. Only when I stopped caring about what I “deserved” and started seeing what I have as a gift of grace meant only to be poured right back out – not to fill my own cup – did life become worth living. I wasted a lot of time. Better late, yes?

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m a guy with a face only a mother could love (and she does.) As a film and TV actor, I usually play malevolent men with an undercurrent of melancholy – the wounded monsters of this world and beyond it. As a touring stage actor I have played Satan, Ray Bradbury and Jesus Of Nazareth (although not necessarily in that order of importance) in solo stage shows. My official sites are (screen) https://BillOberst.com and (stage) https://AdversaryShow.com. I love dead languages, dusty old books and Lon Chaney. And yogurt.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
(1) Empathy (2) Failure and (3) Obsession.
Every life has to have a wild obsession – otherwise why draw breath?
Every life has to have abject failures – the ultimate wisdom is surrender.
Every good and glorious life has to have deep wells of empathy, without which all is dust.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
The Bible, particularly its four gospel tellings of Jesus of Nazareth’s journey to death and rebirth. In these, and in him, I find meaning, yes, but more importantly, I find mystery. At the root of any belief about life’s meaning is always something seen peripherally; a glimpse of a previously unknown home that, once seen, is ever after longed for. If this sounds like mumbo jumbo, it is – but mumbo jumbo is often the best we have to describe the mystical. So we mumble.

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Image Credits
Rob Slaven, Jay Lawton, Edward Payson, Joe Hendrick

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