I just returned from improv rehearsal. Too wound up to go to bed. Sometimes I come home high as a kite from the satisfaction of a job well done. Tonight I have the nagging feeling of wimping out in the face of a new challenge.
How to keep your cool when you're feeling like a fool?How to make bold offers when you haven't mastered all the rules?
How not to cave inside when your colleagues make you drool?
How to enjoy the game when you're so attached to looking cool?
I do improv to make me strong. (and to laugh) In real life, messing up can have grave consequences. In improv, it really doesn't matter as long as you don't let it. We say, if you fail, "Fail Big!" That's the challenge. Self-forgiveness. How quickly can your ego surrender to self-forgiveness? How attached are you to being "cool"? Does the need to be "cool" stop you from taking risks because you might fail?
On a scale of 1-10, how brave do you have to be to risk looking like a fool?
This question is important because the biggest battle most of us face is with our own inner demons. Being in my 40's, I can really see how the mythic "hero's journey" we can each take, if we dare, is to march off into the unknown to battle with the destructive forces of self-doubt.
Improv is such a rich training ground for practicing the warrior attitude, for learning how to play it cool, even when you're sweating and your gut is tight. What we practice in improv is to have a great attitude. We practice generosity, saying "yes", and enhancing the story so that it becomes more interesting. We practice trusting the process because that is the only way to move forward when you head into unchartered territory. I really encourage anyone reading this to take an improv class because, as the fairy tales will all tell you, the Fool always wins the biggest prize in the end. Besides, the more comfortable you can learn to become in the shoes of the Fool, the less fear you feel, which is what ultimately makes you SO COOL!
I'm teaching Playful Parenting classes this summer and offering private Theater of Transformation sessions in Santa Rosa this Spring to people who are ready to embrace life as the ultimate improv. Email me if you're interested: bridget@artoflivinginstitute.org
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