Month: March 2024

The idea is if you win the lottery, you wouldn’t have to work again. But, of course, this isn’t true. If you win the lottery, someone else will do your work for you. So instead of fantasizing never have to work again, perhaps the better question to ponder is: What kind of work do I want to do? Where are you best served?

We think when bad stuff happens, we must be doing something wrong. And when good stuff happens, then we must be doing something right.

But rarely, that is the case. The truth is stuff happens. No matter what we are doing. Sometimes we get the outcome we deserve. Other times, we just don’t. Life can feel more like chance regardless of effort. Instead, we can adopt this posture that people like us do hard stuff like this regardless of the outcome, you keep go.

A string of bad outcomes can get us thinking the universe is conspiring against us. But really, it is the other way around.

The universe is not conspiring against us. We are conspiring against the universe.

Too often, the emphasis is on being fast. But rarely do we talk about being smooth. I don’t know much about guns, but I have been told, “Smooth is fast. Fast is smooth.” No extra steps. Making each move count. Learning to see the game will help slow it down.

Readers of The Giving Tree can interpret the tree as a symbol of selfless love or a boy who can’t stop taking from it and is even downright abusive.

There is a lot of room for interpretation. But I think the part that gets overlooked is that even a stump has significance. And I believe in every stage of life, each of us has something to give.

I was at the grocery store, and this older lady was talking with my kids trying to give them a smile. And she said how much children bring her joy, it is the bright spot of her day, and that she wished her grandchildren visited her. I couldn’t help but think about that tree. How that tree would give anything to feel loved, to be needed, to live with significance.

Before opening night, the case will do a full dress rehearsal. Often, you will invite friends and family to come watch. Because pretending the audience is there and actually having the audience their feels different.

Performing in front of the mirror by yourself and in front of an audience will add to the tension. When you deliver in spite of that tension, that is where the meaning comes from.

Saying yes is a skill. Yes is part of improv theater. And life is a lot like improv. When we say Yes, we are opening up possibilities.

On the flip side, saying no closes the door. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

We should say yes when we feel conviction to go forward, not because we know the outcome.

What we do has a far greater effect on how we feel.

Not the other way around.

Comedian, Paula Poundstone, talks about how only a few people would show up to a show that she traveled for. Frustrated she would take her anger out on the crowd. Until one day she realized, it wasn’t their fault, they were the ones who came. It is important for the artist to show up for those who care enough to be there not for the ones who couldn’t be bothered.

Being asked to do something last minute doesn’t matter if we are constantly engaged in the work.

Which means finding a practice, something that is done every day, opens up opportunities that you would hesitate to accept.