Thoughts on how improv is changing my life.
October 2017. There was a thing that i wanted to write about but didn’t get the chance.
Freakin’ improv wisdom! (which is also the name of the book by Patricia Ryan Madison) I would highly recommend taking an improv class if you can. It’s not just for actors, or theatre-people or whatever, but it’s a class that any and everyone can benefit from. It’s really helped me open my eyes and see and realize how much of the world I’m missing because I’m so wrapped up in my own head.
Improv, as we’re learning it, builds off of the idea of “accepting all offers” - that is, saying “yes” to whatever ideas your partners offer. Not just saying “yes”, but building off of it and being fully on board whether it’s in alignment with what you wanted or not.
In life, I see this translating as supporting people and having an open, positive, accepting attitude. We’ve been raised to “block” offers all the time. To refuse food someone offers just to be “polite”. To question big ideas and try to make them more “realistic”. To say “no” to dancing just because you’re “not in the mood”. This last scenario happened to me a couple days ago. A friend taking Social Dance asked if I wanted to learn some dance moves. Since I feel pretty self-conscious about dancing, my first response was “Nah I’m good, I’m not in the mood.” Then Improv wisdom hit me and I thought, Do you really have a good reason for blocking this offer? So I agreed, and guess what? It was fun, and I didn’t 100% suck at it as I thought I would, and well, I actually learned a thing or two about swing.
2 months later - December 2017. I’m only now returning to finish this post. And while some part of me is disappointed that I can't get it together and gather my thoughts in one go, maybe it’s good that some time has passed, because it makes me realize just how much the things I learnt from improv class have become ingrained in my daily life.
You’d think that by now, after a quarter of “Yes!”, that I would’ve been able to seamlessly adopt the “improv lifestyle” as I like to call it. Nope, I’m still out here blocking offers like it’s nobody’s business, and immediately putting my guard up at the slightest hint of discomfort - I think the difference is that I’m more aware of it. It’s no longer a subconscious thing, but something that I can consciously recognize, and respond to, and correct.
Just today, before I was even thinking about continuing this post, a friend of mine invited me to a Christmas concert that he’d be performing in on Friday. Why was it my first instinct to be hesitant instead of immediately saying yes? What’s not to say yes to? I have every reason to be excited about this: I’d be home and done with assignments; I love concerts and music; I’d be getting into the holiday spirit; it’s an opportunity to support my friend. And as it stands, I don’t have any concrete Friday plans. So why didn’t I just say yes?? Instead, I said that “most likely” I could come. And even while I was saying it, I knew I was saying it to keep control over my evening; I didn’t want to commit to something in case the day came and I somehow changed my mind. And this isn’t an isolated event. Countless times I’ve been afraid to dive into plans that I have nothing against, just because I’m worried about whether “future me” will be as excited. Luckily, tonight, improv wisdom kicked in and I had to snap back to reality and ask myself, “Why don’t you just say yes?” So that’s exactly what I did, and guess what? I feel good and it’s fine, and if that somehow changes on Friday, I’ll deal with it!
A couple hours later (still tonight), I was walking back to my dorm, without headphones because I’d left them in my room. Listening to music is great, (one of my favorite things actually) but a lot of the time it’s an escape from the present. It’s an excuse to not pay attention to what’s happening around me, and sometimes, when I don’t have the crutch of having my playlist on demand, I find myself searching for a way to occupy my mind instead. So I’m walking, and thinking about so many different things: I’m analyzing my recent social interactions, I’m thinking about what I have to do tonight, about packing, and my flight, and the airport…I’m pretty much thinking about everything except the present moment. Then, aha, improv wisdom kicks in, and I tell myself to just focus on what’s around me. Notice new things (great advice from "Improv Wisdom", the book). And as I cross the intersection of Lomita and Santa Teresa, I notice a white fire hydrant that has undoubtedly been there the entire time, yet if someone had asked me whether there was a white fire hydrant at that street corner, I’d be stumped. Now I know the answer. And I probably won’t forget it. It seems that once you notice something by being completely present, you’re not likely to forget it. Earlier this quarter, in a similar effort to be more present, I noticed an abandoned black dustpan leaning against the archway that leads out of Lagunita courtyard. Now, there’s no way I could forget either that dustpan or that fire hydrant, now that I've made a conscious to notice them both.
And now that I think about it, this is something I want to take into the rest of the life:
I want to be fully present in a way that makes things unforgettable.