I recently blogged here about using improv with my middle schoolers. We finished the year with our practice of improv. (I even had a class ask to perform improv on the last day of school!) In our study of improv, we learned that the most important rule of improv is "Yes, and..." That means that as a performer, you must always agree with your partner, otherwise, the scene stops cold. The "and" means that each performer needs to add something new to the scene. As the days and weeks progressed, I saw improvement in the students following these rules.
Perhaps that's why the word YES has been floating around in my head lately. I find myself writing about it and reflecting on it and wondering about the power of yes. As with anything in life, when our attention is on something, it seems to suddenly appear everywhere...
I can act from fear...sometimes I resist instead of risk and life is that much duller because of it. I've decided. I'm going to say YES more. I read "Year of Yes" by Shonda Rhimes and it's one of those books that's stayed with me. The lessons she learned and the way she allowed fear to stop her...I kept saying, "Me too."
Here it is. I'm going to try new things. I'm going to make decisions from YES instead of fear...even when I don't feel like it. I'm going to invite more and ask more and risk more (that's the AND part of it.) I'm going to live outside of my comfort zone and see what that's like.
I invite you to try it. Say YES to summer, to life!
Thank you to Ruth Ayres for providing this space for sharing our celebrations. Please join us and share your own!
Love seeing all these power of 'yes' covers, Michelle. It sounds like a glorious way to begin your summer! Happy Sunday!
ReplyDeleteYes! I love this so much. And now I want to check out some of those books. Also, this made me miss the days when I used to do improv games with my 6th graders. I don't know why I stopped doing that... but it was so fun and rewarding for all!
ReplyDeleteYES-when I saw that word I knew you were in the YES mode, Michelle. Good for you. Make things happen one at a time and watch the explosion of joy become your reality.
ReplyDeleteI love the word "yes" when it stands alone. This school year we focused on using "yes" as a complete answer with nothing attached.
ReplyDeleteWow! I can feel your enthusiasm! So inspiring!
ReplyDeleteThanks for a challenging post, Michelle. It's easy to say an enthusiastic YES to something that is INSIDE of our comfort zone, but is another thing entirely to enthusiastically say YES to something that is not. This week and next I am participating in my state's National Writing Project, and I am certain that in these 10 days ahead, I am going to face many opportunities to say YES to something challenging, something unknown, and definitely something outside my comfort zone. Thank you for your words that will ring in my ears in those moments of uncertainty ahead.
ReplyDeleteThis is the opposite of what I usually see in terms of Yes. I have had to learn how to say "no" so that I can say "yes" to myself and my needs. I tend to be someone who jumps into too many things. This summer I've allowed myself lots of space to just be. I have not put too many things on my plate and the things I have are carefully thought out and intentional.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I see how fear can keep you from being a yes person. I'm excited to hear more about your Yes Summer.
I cheer to you: Go girl!
ReplyDeleteI love this, Michelle! It's so much easier to say no out of fear. Looking forward to reading about your adventures!
ReplyDeleteLove your focus on saying Yes this summer. Good to see you here, your words have been missed! And now I'm off to request Yes Day, a new title for me.
ReplyDeleteI love your thinking! How did I miss this yes? One of my favorite keynotes Kwame Alexander gave is about saying yes. I will have to read the yes books you've gathered here too. My OLW is &, so I was thinking about Summer &...we'll see. I love how your "yes, and" shines.
ReplyDelete