In the middle of a party last night my partner, Mason, exclaimed: “there’s so much laughter here tonight! I’m not normally around people who laugh this much.”
Boy, that’s a sad commentary, I thought. But as we continued into our evening, I realized how right he was. We were in an apartment with just 6 other people, but the laughter was loud and plentiful all night long. At the end of the evening, a spontaneous song broke out, guitar and all. At one point I was prompted to “do the flamingo dance!” Right in synch, two others and myself popped our flamingo arms into the air and moved in rhythm to the strum. Random, and fantastic. You’re probably imagining roaring drunkenness at this point. Nope, a glass or two of wine all around, but generally quite ourselves. The room just abounded with playful energy.
I have to admit that when the improv song first began, a quiet voice in my head whispered: “let me just sit here and laugh with you; don’t ask me to play along.” So when the prompt came for me to join in, there was a moment where I wanted to resist. The slightest of hesitations. I wanted to laugh and shake my head, leaving myself to observe the play from the outside edges. But instead I ignored that voice and took the risk of being silly. The moment my arms went into the air, I felt free. There was no judgment. No way I could screw up. We were just playing! And my night was infinitely more joyful because I joined the fun.
As Mason and I drove home, we reflected on what made this evening different from others. Why was so much laughter present here? Well, we were in a room full of youth workers. And 4 of them had a theater and improv comedy background. Yep, that’s the ticket! Their natural energy was outward and spontaneous. It’s never going to be authentic for me to enter a room and improvise a song, inviting others to join in the back-and-forth lyric making and made-up dance moves. That’s just not the energy I bring. And that’s ok. BUT, I can most definitely be the person who says “yes!” when someone else’s authentic energy brings me into their contagious play. It’s a risk I’m willing to take. And really, there was never actually a risk—just self-created fear. So release that fear.
learning to play 