Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Lofty thoughts

I am a spiritual person, specifically a Christian, but my spiritual journey has taken me in a lot of different directions.

No, that's not right. My spiritual journey has taken me in only one direction - toward truth - but I have made a lot of stops along the way and learned a lot of different things. All of these things have contributed to my quest for truth, which I know lies somewhere at the end of my journey, many years, and possibly many lifetimes, from now.

Such is my improv journey. I have had a number of teachers and read a bunch of stuff, and occasionally some of what I have learned seemingly contradicts itself. Sometimes one teacher will even contradict himself (sometimes even in the space of one note). All of this is part of my journey to improv truth. None of it is wrong, and all of it is crucial to my growth.

Just as in my spiritual journey, I try to listen to everything. I try to remember as much of it as I can, and try to I apply it wherever it seems to fit. If it doesn't fit in a particular situation, I don't discard it as nonsense. I simply put it aside for future reference. I have found that most everything someone thought worth teaching was worth learning. It just has to be used at the right time. God help me to remember it all.

Um...

we are not a cult.

Wednesday, November 2, 2005

Walk like an Egyptian

This morning while I was walking the dog, I watched the woman who was walking in front of me. She had a peculiar gait. I can't figure out how to describe it in a way that makes sense. Edit: I just figured it out! She walked like a marionet, with her torso appearing to hang just a bit behind her legs. Anyway, I caught myself trying to mimic her walk. I didn't think "I wonder if I can walk like that", I just found myself trying it. (It hurt my knees)

This is something I catch myself doing a lot - mimicking gestures or facial expressions or voices that catch my interest. Sometimes I repeat an interesting turn of phrase or bit of idiom a couple of times so I'll remember it.

It can be awkward if someone walks into the room while I'm doing it. They just look at me funny, but I overheard someone the other day talking about me observing people and taking notes. I don't literally take notes, but that is essentially what I am doing. I just didn't realize that it was that obvious. Fortunately, the overheard conversation seemed positive. I think they hope they wind up in my improv one day, and they probably will, or have.

The first class of the Level 3L with Scott last night was really awesome. After all the really theroetical stuff Zach had us working on (which was fascinating, even when it was breaking my brain) it really felt good to work directly on scenework and relationship. Scott can get me to find and focus on a relationship like nobody else can. He just has that way about him. I am improv happy right now.