Improv is a state of mind…it is a way of thinking about and experiencing the world.
The core principles as I’ve learned them (say yes and yes AND, make your partner look good, trigger your partner’s imagination and celebrate failure) are truly and deeply a part of my life. I use these principles to reflect on my relationships and interactions and I get a burst of glee when I find a new place in my life that has room for improv.
I like to make stuff. I don’t enjoy following directions and I am totally challenged on the spacial front…learning to craft like an improvisor has been a relief! It is a mini-journey rocketing forward now that LP is full-on into the arts & crafts experience.
I do often looked for reference points and help on complicated projects (or ones that I had a need to “get right” like the quilt I made for LP before she was born with mega-help from friends). AND I’m finding myself more and more willing to jump in and figure out what will work using the inspiration of the moment and the materials at hand.
LP is starting to have an interest in kitchen play, so I dug up some felt and set out to make a mess of cherry tomatoes. They are a little odd and lumpy but totally easy and satisfying to make and even more satisfying to watch her play with them.
As I made them, when thoughts about making the “perfect” cherry tomato would arise, I could let it go — realizing that LP loves to turn books into puddles, a cooking spray can into her friend the rapping frog and flowers into ice cream. She doesn’t need perfect (in fact, even these might be more representational than she likes)…and I was happy to discover to see that I don’t either. Yes!
