A few years ago, I attended the 40th anniversary party of my friend Nick.
As part of the celebration, he hired an improvisation comic strip, and we all had to participate in learning improvisation comedy.
(I just felt the collective thrill of all the introverts by reading this newsletter).
We started to throw up scenarios and funny scenes in which participate, and we learned the most important improvisation rule: “Yes and”.
Two simple words and the foundation of all improvisation comedy:
Whenever someone offers a scene, a sentence or a situation, the only acceptable answer is: “Yes and”
- Yes: acceptance! I accept and recognize that whatever the situation, whatever the absurd, to be true.
- And: Build! Like a tennis match, after your improvisation partner hit you the ball, your work is to retaliate it! Based on the situation or the scene.
For example, if your improvisation partner says: “I am a space pirate”, your answer could be:
- “Yes, and I am the space police, you are in a state of arrest!”
- “Yes, and I’m a first companion looking for a new crew, it’s perfect!”
- “Yes, and my name is Captain Hook, welcome to Pirates Anonymous.”
The “yes and” rule is so crucial, because there is nothing worse than a bad improvisation partner!
A bit like Liam Neeson This short sketch With Ricky Gervais, (I laugh each time):
The yes and the rule for life
As a former “gifted child” who has an exaggerated who has the rather negative inner critic, I worked hard to incorporate “yes and” in my life.
The “yes” part is built around acceptance, which I have spent the last two years working to kiss.
Discover my tests passed on Acceptance And WABI SABI For more.
This is the “and” part on which I concentrated recently.
As Dr. Kristen Neff underlines in his book CompassionLife is complex, just like humans:
“The judgment defines people as bad against good and tries to capture their essential nature with simplistic labels.
The discrimination of wisdom recognizes complexity and ambiguity. »»
Nothing is ever as simple as it seems. Things are never as good or bad as our brains think either.
So, despite the voice in our heads who wants to judge everything in black or white terms, yes or no, good or good … We must remember that life is a beautifully complicated mess.
The author F. Scott Fitzgerald said one day:
The test of a first -rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposite ideas in the mind at the same time, and to always keep the ability to function.
It is necessary, for example, to be able to see that things are desperate while being determined to do them otherwise.
This is my task for you today.
Is there a part of your life that seems black or white, and could rather use a little complexity?
Nothing is as simple as it seems.
Life is difficult and change is difficult. And you are a good person trying.
Which means there is hope. And Hope is warlike emotion.
Also, go look Sketch Liam Neeson.
You are welcome.
-Teve
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