The Power of Peace
“The world fears a new experience more than it fears anything. Because a new experience displaces so many old experiences.”
The world is changing. Society is changing. Priorities and politics are changing. It’s happening locally here in the world of Portland Improv and it’s happening - thankfully - across the art form in general. I continue to believe that evolution and change are good for the world.
But as I turn 54, I sometimes feel that too many changes are now coming far too quickly for me to process, let alone understand. This has often made it impossible to keep up. I then pressure myself to TRY and keep up. I feel that pressure when I doom scroll on social media and see how much vitriol and hate we direct at one another from behind our keyboards.
"I'm far behind," I say to myself. “I don’t know enough about Black Lives Matter or Free Speech or pronouns or gender fluidity…” So I stay up late, reading and learning, to hopefully catch up with others. I do this at night when the world (and my full-of-life family and house) is quiet.
The results...? I wake up exhausted the next day and then start the entire cycle all over again: eat, work, exercise, family time, then back to work, with the toxic hope that coffee will somehow help me.
It never does. That's because I've been believing a bunch of powerful lies:
I've been believing that I needed to keep up with the world
I've been believing that others had it "better" than me
I've been believing that others knew what they were doing
I've been believing that I must exhaust myself to make progress
I've been believing that sleep isn't essential
Seriously.
These are all deeply flawed lies that create a deeply flawed belief system which, in turn, inform the deeply flawed choices I make. Those choices do not serve me, my family, or the world.
Yes, learning is important. But so is understanding my own mission. I'm here to live my purpose, to be in joy, and to serve the world around me. Now that I'm realizing that, there isn't enough time for keeping up with every headline, issue, idea, disaster, or opinion that gets fired at me through the firehose of traditional and social media.
Here's the real truth:
The best way I can serve the world is to be unabashedly me, do the very best I can at being me, and keep up with my heart, not the world.
I have a fantastic and deeply imperfect life. I realize huge wins and I face massive obstacles physically, emotionally, and cognitively. And so does everyone else. They just don't share about it as I do. I'm one of the few people I know who is willing to share his challenges and imperfections publically. That's not a liability: it's an asset. I’m brave.
NO ONE really knows what they're doing. Some of us might have a bit more experience than others, but everyone is just trying things out, improvising, and seeing what works and what doesn't. Those of you who have attended one of my improv classes or improv workshops already know this. I sometimes stop and pivot when it feels like we need to, not because I’ve planned for that.
Working fewer hours but more deeply on the task at hand is how I do my best work.
My sleep is paramount. So is my mental health and physical health and vacation time. I'm a human, not a machine. I have feelings and I have value because of who I am, what I know, and what I'm able to do.
From this new, deeper place, there isn't enough time to debate those around me who cannot or will not understand these truths and honor me from this place. That means that - to others - I might look like I’m ignorant, selfish, or not interested in knowing what they know or speaking as they speak.
While that’s a shame, I can’t manage other people’s opinions of me anymore.
That, in turn, means that I'll lose jobs, relationships, students, and other connections that no longer serve me. However, it also means that I'll GAIN jobs, relationships, and other connections that DO serve me. That process has already begun and it’s been awesome. 🌟 My last client - I kid you not - is a company named joyful. You can’t beat that, right?
In the end, I know this much: I have the support and love of my family to back me. We've got enough money to keep a roof over our heads. We've got clothes on our backs and food on the table. We laugh and sing and dance in the living room with our 4-year-old son.
Knowing those things - and practicing to remember those things - brings me true Peace, Peace with a capital "P". Peace is the real antidote (for me) to coping with the kinds of massive changes that are happening in the world right now.
My lifelong practices of improvisation, meditation, and surfing continue to help anchor me in joy. More importantly, they provide me with the gift of the present moment which, in turn, is also where I find Peace.
My friends, if you're still reading this, then I want you to know something...
No matter where you are on your imperfect journey, I'm with you and support you. There's NOTHING wrong with you. Quite the opposite: you're a shining light. If a change is required, remember your improv skills: trust your instincts, act boldly, and decisively. Make a choice! No one but you gets to decide when it’s time for you to change.
The least shared truth is that everyone else is on the same imperfect journey as you are, whether they have the guts to admit that or not.
Don’t ask whether we can keep up with the world. Instead, ask if the world will be able to keep up with us, once we emerge into the people we're about to become.
Studying improvisation is a lot like turning within, learning about yourself, before emerging somewhat new.
Executive summary
How Improv Classes and Improv Comedy Initially Re-Wired My Brain... and How Improv in Portland Has Now Helped to Anchor my life. My improv classes used to be about acting skills. My comedy theatre training in sketch comedy, improv, & musical theater was meant to help my acting career. But improvising in general - and improvising in Portland and opening an improv studio in Portland specifically - have all changed my life. Now, improvisation has become about developing my life skills and refocusing on the present. Improv training worked for me. It can for you as well.