Life Lesson #7: Trust
If you missed any previous posts in this series, you can find Life Lesson #1: Show Up With What You Have and Use It Well HERE, Life Lesson #2: Everyone Matters HERE, Life Lesson #3: Be Playful and Laugh at Yourself HERE, Life Lesson #4: Give Yourself What You Need to Do Your Best HERE, Life Lesson #5: Get Comfortable With Fear HERE, and Life Lesson #6: Be Here Now HERE.
If you missed any previous posts in this series, you can find Life Lesson #1: Show Up With What You Have and Use It Well HERE, Life Lesson #2: Everyone Matters HERE, Life Lesson #3: Be Playful and Laugh at Yourself HERE, Life Lesson #4: Give Yourself What You Need to Do Your Best HERE, Life Lesson #5: Get Comfortable With Fear HERE, and Life Lesson #6: Be Here Now HERE.
I can remember being backstage before a performance, standing in a circle as a cast. Everyone had jitters, but one cast member voiced their nerves aloud. "I'm so nervous. What if I can't do this?"
Without missing a beat, another cast member looked at her and smiled. "You can do this. And don't forget, whatever happens out there, we got your back." I smiled in the dim light. I do theatre for so many reasons, but one of the big ones is that it has shown me time and again, that we have so many reasons to trust.
Through the theatre, I've worked with so many incredibly generous human beings who renew my faith in people. I've taught many students who started a class or play unsure of themselves and by the end, had developed a stronger confidence in themselves and learned to trust new friends. I've worked on enough plays myself where I feared not being able to memorize the lines, make emotional connections, or allow myself to be vulnerable. Through the encouragement of a director and my fellow cast members, I've dug deep down to do what I thought I couldn't. Through theatre, I've learned to be my own friend and never give up on myself.
There's a million ways I continually learn trust through the theatre, here's just my top ten:
1. Trust: that in a digital age, a stage play can still sell out performances
2. Trust: that complete strangers can approach you post performance and tell you how special the play was for them
3. Trust: that there are countless strangers in the world that are just an audition away from becoming kindred spirits
4. Trust: that there are ups and down to every process, but in the end, things come out just fine
5. Trust: that most of your fears about things going wrong are usually just your imagination running away with you
6. Trust: that telling a story cannot only delight an audience, but change the way they think about the world
7. Trust: that human beings are capable of so much more beauty and compassion than we give them credit for
8. Trust: that the world, despite appearances, can be a warm and welcoming place
9. Trust: that new ideas are always around the bend and that we can always change and grow if we want to
10. Trust: that no matter what happens, the show must/can/will go on---and in the end, it's spectacular.
A play is such a wonderful microcosm for the way the world can be: collaborative, full of inspiration, a place to gather as a community and dream about the kind of world we want to live in. All the lessons we learn inside the walls of a theatre then give us the tools we need to work on this vision of the world.
Without missing a beat, another cast member looked at her and smiled. "You can do this. And don't forget, whatever happens out there, we got your back." I smiled in the dim light. I do theatre for so many reasons, but one of the big ones is that it has shown me time and again, that we have so many reasons to trust.
Through the theatre, I've worked with so many incredibly generous human beings who renew my faith in people. I've taught many students who started a class or play unsure of themselves and by the end, had developed a stronger confidence in themselves and learned to trust new friends. I've worked on enough plays myself where I feared not being able to memorize the lines, make emotional connections, or allow myself to be vulnerable. Through the encouragement of a director and my fellow cast members, I've dug deep down to do what I thought I couldn't. Through theatre, I've learned to be my own friend and never give up on myself.
There's a million ways I continually learn trust through the theatre, here's just my top ten:
1. Trust: that in a digital age, a stage play can still sell out performances
2. Trust: that complete strangers can approach you post performance and tell you how special the play was for them
3. Trust: that there are countless strangers in the world that are just an audition away from becoming kindred spirits
4. Trust: that there are ups and down to every process, but in the end, things come out just fine
5. Trust: that most of your fears about things going wrong are usually just your imagination running away with you
6. Trust: that telling a story cannot only delight an audience, but change the way they think about the world
7. Trust: that human beings are capable of so much more beauty and compassion than we give them credit for
8. Trust: that the world, despite appearances, can be a warm and welcoming place
9. Trust: that new ideas are always around the bend and that we can always change and grow if we want to
10. Trust: that no matter what happens, the show must/can/will go on---and in the end, it's spectacular.
A play is such a wonderful microcosm for the way the world can be: collaborative, full of inspiration, a place to gather as a community and dream about the kind of world we want to live in. All the lessons we learn inside the walls of a theatre then give us the tools we need to work on this vision of the world.
Please accept my heartfelt gratitude for tuning into this little series and the rest of my blog experiment. Wishing you a wonderful week! As always feel free to leave a comment or drop me a line!
