Back to School

It's September, which always reminds me of going back to school: freshly sharpened #2 pencils zipped into a brand new pencil case, tucked into a canvas backpack with my name inked on the inside. Notebooks with plenty of crisp, empty pages just waiting to be filled with notes, doodles and random thoughts.

And as children all over the country return to school this week, I guess it's only fitting that I return to school too. Improv school, to be exact. Instead of bringing in a book bag filled with new school supplies, the only thing I brought tonight was myself and an open mind. I've always loved and admired improv - ever since I caught episodes of "Whose Line is it Anyway" (both the British & American versions) on TV as a kid and the Second City came to Detroit. The best improvisers make the difficult look so easy. I've been taking improv classes to make me a better actor and performer, but as I sat in our first class of the new session today, I realized that the lessons reach even farther.

Improv is a great skill to have - for actors of all kinds, and for life in corporate America or wherever you live & work. It's about listening, staying in the moment, leading when you need to lead, following when you need to follow and most of all, being there for your team. It's about thinking on your feet and being open to the possible (and the impossible). Most of all, it's about trust. Trusting your scene partners or group to be there for you and give you great things to react to, and trusting yourself enough to stop (over) thinking, and letting yourself feel more.

So even though I didn't have a case filled with sharp #2 pencils or any brand new notebooks to fill with tonight's lessons, be assured: I was definitely taking notes.

Happy September!