I’ve finally started reading a book that the author gave to me personally to read and share my opinions with the world. The name of the book is “Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up” by Patricia Ryan Madson.
The book basically speaks of how to approach life ready to be flexible and prepared to respond to life around us. By livining in this way you can enjoy life and experience it more to the fullest. I’ve just now started reading it, but wanted to share two sections that stood out to me so far in the prologue. Maybe you think improv is just for comedy, as the books states, the kind you’ve seen on Who’s Line Is It Anway (which I love!). But much of life is improvised, we just don’t see it.
Leapfrogging thousands of years into the present, we fine ourselves nearly strangled by the planning instinct. For some of us it is our life. We plan when we should execute. We make lists, worry, or theorize (often endlessly) when we ought to be responding. We choose safety above all else. We seem to have lost the knack for looking at the day with fresh eyes or doing anything out of our comfort zone.
I will say I’m much more of a wingin’ it kind of guy, but I regularly see myself and others around me almost paralyzed by the quest of having “all” the information, or getting something just right. This happens both in our personal lives and many times within business.
On the home front, some improvisations produce a delicious dinner, a last-minute handmade birthday card, or words of appreciation at a retirement party. Fixing a flat tire is usually an improvisation. All of parenting is improvised; no book prepares for it. All conversation – indeed, all natural speech, if you think about it – is an improvisation. Unless you are performing a memorized text or a rehearsed speech, whenever you speak you are improvising.
So, as you can see, it’s natural. We just don’t think about it, and that’s the key. You get to the point where you’re able to take in all the facts as they’re available to you and you respond appropriately with focus and speed. I’ll leave you with this quote that was included in the text as well. For me, this ranks right up there with CARPE DIEM, just a little harder to remember.
PISCES MORTUI SOLUM CUM FLUMINE NATANT
or
“Only dead fish go with the flow.”
Patricia Ryan Madson says
Bravo! And, thanks for blogging on Improv Wisdom. I'm delighted to learn that you are finding utility in the ideas from the book. One of the cool things about the book is that you can read it in any order. Flip open to any chapter and see if there isn't a "message for the day". I hope you'll try out the little "try this" games and exercises. While they appear quite simple (for example, "Go home a different way and notice the scenery!") they often bring about profound changes in how we see things.
I am grateful to you for your kindness in writing about my book.
Have a great day.
Patricia Ryan Madson
Patricia Ryan Madson says
Bravo! And, thanks for blogging on Improv Wisdom. I’m delighted to learn that you are finding utility in the ideas from the book. One of the cool things about the book is that you can read it in any order. Flip open to any chapter and see if there isn’t a “message for the day”. I hope you’ll try out the little “try this” games and exercises. While they appear quite simple (for example, “Go home a different way and notice the scenery!”) they often bring about profound changes in how we see things.
I am grateful to you for your kindness in writing about my book.
Have a great day.
Patricia Ryan Madson