CENTER POINT
THE CENTER FOR SELF-CHANGE NEWSLETTER

Vol. 5, No. 5 - May, 2011

IS YOUR LIFE MORE THAN A MOVIE ABOUT YOU?

J. Kingston Cowart
. "The Change Maker"

Shakespeare had it right.

William Shakespeare said "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." *

I believe that's true—and that we are always on stage in one way or another.

I also believe that we play best when we are on stage as freely as possible.

Many people, however, seem trapped in living their lives as though they were movies about them, each one acting as the star of his or her own story.

Not only are they the stars, but the directors too.

Like stars, they often wish they could restate their lines: "Oh, I should have said this instead of that."

We all do that from time to time, of course—but the movie makers tend to pressure people into letting them do a retake so they can feel better about how they are perceived.

Then they insist that their last take should be accepted as the "real" one, no matter what they actually said before.

Like directors, they think they have the right to call "Cut!" in the middle of someone else's speech, stepping on their lines in order to control the scene.

They also edit the raw footage into a memory that tells the story their way—even if that means leaving other people's contributions and points of view on the cutting room floor.

Many come to think they are the producers, that they brought the whole thing into being in the first place.

They seldom realize that the script they are going by is not truly their own. Much of it was written by the people and experiences that influenced them in early childhood.

Serious conflicts inevitably arise when other people in the room, acting from other influences, think the story is about them instead.

The stars of each personal movie will often become prima donnas when that happens. They will have moods, hide off set and sulk, or angrily berate everyone else for not giving them their due.

There is a better way.

What if, instead of insisting on being the star of a movie about them, they thought of themselves as members of an ensemble in an improvisational play?

That way, they would never get stuck having to contrive or defend a script—no matter who wrote it.

Free to roam the stage, they could spontaneously go anywhere and speak freely and never have to rigidly toe the line or hit some predetermined mark again.

Of course, they would still have to have a sense of stagecraft; and would need to know how to play with, and off of, others.

But that's just the same as basically knowing how to communicate and exercise some generally adequate social skills.

Best of all, they wouldn't have to stay "in character" all the time, trapped in a fictional role that has become set over time.

In fact their real character, their true nature, would spontaneously show forth in everything they said and did.

Mutual cooperation is better
than personal competition.

In an improv ensemble, each player supports all the others.

There is no competition for special star status

The energy runs high and creativity is at the fore.

Sometimes those in the cast have so much fun they actually break out in laughter right on stage.

Playing it that way whenever we can is better than trying trying to read our own script into every scene in life.

At business meetings, professional conferences, social engagements, in shopping malls and restaurants, and with our families, friends, and coworkers it feels much better going improv, no matter what others are doing—even if some of them still insist on trying to impose their screenplays on the rest of us.

If they don't get it, well they just don't know how to play, do they?

Nonetheless, we can play around them.

Instead of insisting on our own cinematic vision of everything, we are free to have creative fun.

The work gets done just the same—and often much better.

It's not that people who go improv don't take themselves or the world seriously.

They do.

They just try not to take either themselves or the world personally.

Naturally anyone who chooses this approach still has to respect the stage he or she is on; to recognize what kind of audience is present; and especially to play with and not against the other members of the cast.

We won't always get it right. Sometimes we may still collapse ourselves into a scene or two.

But as others learn to improvise with us, they'll help get us out of that—just as we help them.

Sometimes we could use a little help.

Moving from the restrictions of a scripted life to the freedom of improv isn't always easy at first.

I know from experience that hypnotherapy for release from past influences can really make a difference for people who want to make that transition.

Yes, the world is a stage. There is no avoiding that.

When we take an improvisational approach to the roles we play, we have the freedom and creativity to make the most of every performance.

It seems there is no avoiding that either.

Let me know what you think.

<jkcowart@self-change.com>

*As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7, lines 139-140.

J. Kingston Cowart

 JOIN THE CENTER CIRCLE

It's easy. Every Wednesday
for a few minutes between
10:00 and Noon sit down and
turn inward - through prayer,
meditation, self-hypnosis or
any modality you choose -
and send out good thoughts
to everyone else in the circle.

I'll be there. How about you?

J. Kingston Cowart
619.561.9012
Post Office Box 19005
San Diego CA 92159
jkcowart@self-change.com

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