Improvise

Personal photo - Hotel staircase in Genoa, Italy

As a part of company training, we had an improvisation class at work last week. I had already engaged in improvisation lessons at my acting classes a few years ago, but this time, the exercise made me think about life, and the balance between taking the lead and accepting to let go.

The training session was quite simple: we were gathered in a group of 8, and the trainer would give us simple exercises such as creating a still scene on the theme "Uncle Bob's death", or starting to tell a story and letting another continue on. At the end of the sessions, two main points struck me as important to succeed in improvisation, and I found these, to my surprise, to apply quite well to life in general.

Listening and Letting Go 

When asked about improvisation, many people answer it is about creativity and imagination. And it is. But it is also, a lot, about listening to the other participants of the impro scene, and accepting their proposition. Improvisation is about building on what the other person brings to the scene, and this is only possible if you listen to the other actor's choices and accept them, even if it doesn't go the way you had planned.

In life too, things often don't go the way we planned. Here is what we learned about listening to the other actors, and letting go of the control we want to have over the story, that I think can also apply to life in general:


The initial situation is not what we want - sometimes, we face situations we didn't want to be in the middle of. Yet we are. Instead of fighting the facts, it is more efficient and peaceful to accept the current situation, whatever it is, and find solutions accordingly.

The scenario doesn't turn out as planned - sometimes, people don't react the way we hoped, or, despite our preparations, events don't turn out the way we expected. We have to let go of the need to control the situation, accept that it turned out the way it did, and move on.

Other people don't see the scene the same way - Each person has their own vision of the scene and what they want to do with it, and the result, when successful, is a mix of both visions. It is the same in life, people around us don't always have the same values and ideas than us, and we need to accept this fact.

Making Life Decisions

In improvisation, making decisions is one of the key elements of the scene. It isn't prepared like a regular play, and you have to react to the situation quickly and with conviction. If you don't, you are paralyzed on the stage and the scene just ends. In a way, life is the same. We don't have any prepared lines for what's going to happen next or how people around us react.  But we choose how we react to all these external events.

In fact, I personally believe that it is our actions, behaviour and choices that make us who we are. Here is what we learned about making decisions in impro, which I find applies to life decisions as well:

We fear to be judged by the other participants - if we are sure that our decision is right by our standards, we shouldn't let other people's judgment interfere in our choices

We want to make the perfect choice - Sometimes, there is no "best" decision, or "perfect" scenario, in the end, moving forward with a decision is better than doing nothing at all while waiting for perfection.


In the end, improvisation is about finding the right balance between the 2 points above: listening and accepting the situation, letting go of the need to control everything; but being assertive enough to make our own decisions and stand behind them. That sounds a lot like a balance to think about in life too, doesn't it?

That's obviously a work in progress thought that I wanted to share while the improvisation class is still fresh in my mind, what do you think about it?