The Present
Excellent to see you today, dear reader! We had an excellent workshop yesterday on Emotion. It is on to the next one today as finalizing plans for our workshop next Thursday at the Heartland Juvenile Services Association conference. I’m very excited for the opportunity. Also, more importantly, I have a show tonight. The team I have performed with for the longest performs tonight (2nd Friday every month!) at The Backline. Also, Sonic 2 comes out and my kids have been looking forward to that since seeing the first movie at the beginning of the pandemic. Perhaps it is like their Back to the Future. I could not wait for Back to the Future 2 as a kid!
Today marks the 9th day in a row that I am writing down thoughts. That has been very enjoyable and has helped how I think about many of the ideas discussed in our workshops. I also think it has helped me as a teacher to the medical students and residents I am working with this month. Many of the ideas in the workshops come from scenarios that occur in my regular job. I always used to beat around the bush that I performed improv at work, and I still am not always forthright about it. I want improv to be part of my identity but not solely who I am at work. I don’t want every experience I have at work to be a topic for this blog. My hope is that I can invest fully in the healthcare part of my job and invest fully in the improv portion of my job so that the combination of the two is authentic. I worry sometimes that I force these improv ideas onto scenarios that it may not be called for or that encounter at work reminds me of a connection to an improv idea but takes me away from that encounter. For example, I don’t want to have a difficult conversation with a patient or provide feedback to a student while thinking about how I can use the event for something related to improv. That has not happened to this point but that would be the downside I could see about writing daily. This past week, I did have a chance encounter with a colleague who has been very supportive of improv activities on campus and at a certain point, I did think how I could incorporate the encounter into something I share (Oh shoot, I just did it!). Also thinking about how I promote these activities on social media can take away from how I experience moments. I thought about forcing a picture onto the workshop last night for the sake of posting on social media. I did not but I wanted to. It also happens with my kids. I can’t just experience the moment; I have to immediately fumble around with my phone to take a picture of it. I love looking at the pictures from years ago to see my kids across time. It has also taken me out of moments that I should have been more present. My son is now old enough to tell me to put away my phone, which I appreciate. I think my son’s offer of correction is like improv in a way. Improv does tell me to be present in the moment. At my show this evening, I will have to leave behind all the things that happen today at work, although I will have the option of bringing it to the scene if it does fit. The rule of Yes, and… when done correctly has helped me be present in the conversations I have. The Yes portion forces me to stop thinking about whatever is in my head at the time to find out more about the person I am interacting with. The and… portion is making sure I am bringing myself to the interaction in a collaborative way. If followed correctly, I can still bring the ideas of improv to a situation, however only after saying yes to another’s reality and building from there. I have been focused on thinking about improv for the past few years but I have delved into a number of ideas in the past that I would shove into conversations periodically. All of the usual suspects; exercise, video games, cold showers, podcasts, audiobooks, regular books, … I could go on (Video games, specifically Zelda: Breath of the Wild was the most consuming and Books were the most intrusive into everyday conversations). Improv is the only one of my hobbies that is self-correcting when done correctly. That is my promise to you dearest reader, that I will use improv to focus on being present in all my conversations and interactions. I need to delve fully into being a doctor when I am at work. I need to delve fully into being an improviser tonight at The Backline. I need to delve into each moment. The entries in the Current Thoughts section will be reflections on how those interactions connect to the big ideas in my life. Interactions and experiences in my life will be just that, not the fodder for something else.
Ok, the challenge continues! Off to be a doctor and later tonight, an improvisor. Today I will combine the two only if it allows me to delve deeper into the present