They Paved Paradise

How are you defending the institutions that are important to you?

As Joni Mitchell sang, "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you got 'til it's gone? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot." 

Ain't that the truth?

Until yesterday, the only Shakey's Pizza in Western Washington was in our neighborhood. I can count on one hand the times I went there, it was around when I was a kid, but it wasn’t an institution that was important to me.

The closure was announced about a week before it actually happened and I felt a pang of nostalgia but didn’t feel compelled to go myself but, the crowds were out the door that final week, literally wrapping around the block with people willingly waiting 2 hours for a table.

Prior to last week, though, the place was (mostly) empty anytime I'd been there.

That got me thinking about taking things for granted; what if our local Shakey’s had done even HALF of the business they did in their final week? If people had really supported that institution, I’d bet they’d still be serving up those too-sweet-sauced pizzas, wings and MoJo potatoes. (Flat rounds of battered, chicken-fried potato deliciousness.)

Shakey’s was a (thankfully painless) life lesson on Rule Number Two in Timothy Snyder's great book  “On Tyranny". 

Rule Two is: Defend Institutions.

So, with this Shakey’s example, I really got to thinking about where and how I want to actively participate and be present within the institutions and places I want to keep and am willing to defend:

VOTING

Roughly 32% of the voting eligible population voted for the 47th president. 31% for Harris, 1% for others and 36% of the voting eligible population did not vote at all. 68% of the eligible voters in the US did NOT vote for the 47th president. We must remember that.

I defend this institution by voting in every single election.

FREE PRESS

This one is tricky because I do see how the need for ratings drives up very skewed “news reporting". Because I’m in my crone phase, I remember when there weren’t talking head pundits on a 24-hour news cycle. We got our news from the local newspaper which was delivered to our home daily. I only see video news delivered in the “old-fashioned”, way, with little editorializing on social media (shout out to Aaron Parnas and V, with Under the Desk News). I get the majority of my news from the BBC, the AP and avoid the Washington Post entirely.

I defend this institution by SUBSCRIBING to my local newspaper and reading the same national stories from multiple sources.

PUBLIC LIBRARIES

I’m paraphrasing, but, a Texas teen protesting a book ban said it best when noting that no one who has ever banned a book has gone down in history as one of the “good guys”. The American library association, is a valuable resource and our public libraries are a valuable resource in their communities and I want to see them thrive.

I regularly visit my local library and always have books checked out.

CONCIOUS CONSUMPTION

Often the only power we have is the power of our dollars. You can support the institutions that share your beliefs by spending the majority of your dollars with them. Keeping your money local is also a great way to defend the institutions that are important to you.

I pay attention to who benefits from my money.

LIVE THEATRE

Just like reading gives us access to worlds outside our own, so does live theatre transport us and share stories that can have a positive impact on how we view the world or understand something that isn’t part of our day-to-day lives. 

I regularly attend, volunteer and perform at local theaters in my area.

PUBLIC EDUCATION

Children in America are currently assured of a free and appropriate public education for all. I intend to make sure it stays that way. My children are both in their 20’s but I still am deeply involved as an active and vocal advocate in our local school district. Do you attend board meetings? Look at their meeting agendas? Sit on any committees? You don’t have to be a parent of a school-aged child to be involved.

I am a former elected School Board member and still stay actively involved.

In the improv of life, it's important to "yes, and . . ." and support what has supported you.

Happy New Year - Time to Quit

Happy New Year. A time to assess, reflect and move onward and upward!

I'm not one for New Years Resolutions but, today on January 2, after a great weekend with friends and family, I asked myself these three questions that I've learned from the business world but, also, these are the basis of good theatre! All director's notes are a combination of these! 

1. What are you going to STOP doing in 2023?

2. What are you going to START doing in 2023?

3. What are you going to KEEP doing in 2023?

I wrote the answers in my journal/calendar and I'm taking action to do them!

Everyone will have a different STOP, START and KEEP. 

Feel free to share yours here! 

When Accepting an Offer is the Best Response

I understand that there is a lot of news about some recent legislation in Florida.

Being honest, I haven't researched enough to know if the "memo" linked here is truly being circulated around Florida schools, or not, but I sure hope so, because it is a perfect example of accepting an offer.

The points made in this memo are excellent, accurate and true. Furthermore, the author of this memo isn't trying to change the reality (that Florida HB1557 is now law) but, is accepting that the bill did pass and is counseling that others follow the bill to the letter.

As someone who performs, teaches and coaches improv I always like to find real-life examples and this is a great one.

It's also a reminder that all of life is an improv!

Those who forget that -or don't understand that- and try to write a rigid script as a means of controlling something or someone are going to be thwarted most of the time. 

I'll be watching this one with great interest.

The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me

What if, today, in your improv of life, every time something bad happens you say, "This is the best thing that ever happened to me"??

What would that change?

A few years ago, my left hip became incredibly painful and I needed a hip replacement, seems "bad", right?

But, in the process of getting a physical to be cleared for hip replacement surgery, I had a mammogram and cancer was detected.

Needing a hip replacement turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me, to date, because the cancer was caught early. I went through all the necessary treatments and I'm cancer-free today.

I have a couple other instances where something that seemed bad turned out to be the best thing for me.

What's the best "bad" thing that every happened to you?

The Benefits of "Mirroring"

 I talk about it often, how improv can be applied to life situations to great effect!

If I can find it again, I'll drop the link here; because I won't do it justice in words and I want to credit the creator if I can. So, just know this was not my idea but I love it and think it's a great example of applying improv to life.

I just saw a video in which a woman describes how she deals with disgruntled customers, she mirrors their energy and repeats back what the customer says.

For example:

Angry customer, stomps up to counter, yelling: "This is unacceptable! I drove across town to find 2 of these items and you only have one."

Sales Associate, yelling, as well: "This IS unacceptable! I'm going to look in the back!" then proceeds to storm off. When she returns, she yes, "Now THIS is REALLY unacceptable after you drove across town for these. We don't have any more in the BACK. This is so unacceptable."

This brilliant woman goes on to explain that, when she does this, typically, the customer completely changes and says, "That's okay. Really, it's okay."

This sales associate is just mirroring what the angry customer is doing.

Mirroring is a common theatre game, this brilliant sales associate just uses it at work with unsuspecting customers! She's actually, combining it with another improv game where you repeat back what someone says to kick off what you're going to add.

The funny thing is, when you mirror and echo in "real life", it often makes people more comfortable and receptive to you and is a great way to protect yourself from negative energy, you just push it back to the person who started it, rather than holding on to it. 

I will admit, I used this mirroring tactic with a former boss who, quite honestly, behaved abominably to anyone who had less seniority than she did. At first, I started by just physically mirroring her. It actually made me feel less "small" as her physicality was quite aggressive. Then, I started repeating her words back to her; some of which were quite mean. Sometimes she'd adjust what she said after I repeated them back. At any rate, it really did help me to deflect the negative energy.

I also kept detailed notes after every meeting and encounter to cover my ass!

Have you ever tried mirroring before? How did it go?