Thanks for so many wonderful responses and food for thought. It was very
cool to see it inspired a video from Alex Iglecia. Clearly a lot of
years went into getting to that level of understanding the mind/body
elements that guide his recommendations about how to prepare to be
surprised.
I especially enjoying the poster tip. It seems a very simple way to get
people in the right mood. I was wondering if there were any good artwork
for such a poster that I could do for my next Open Space - but Thomas'
upside down seems elegantly simple.
Improv came up several times. I love improv! I think it's interesting
that one of the leading improv gurus, Keith Johnstone, wrote a book
called "Don't Be Prepared". He's more famous for "Impro", but I cracked
open the book that seems to eschew preparation and came upon the
beginning of a chapter titled "BEING THERE":
My first students seemed quite normal until I asked them to
improvise; many of them would then become 'over-strong', banging
violently on tables, or patting their partner's shoulders with flat
hands that did not yield to the contours that they touched.
If I walked into a scene when they were 'acting' they often failed
to observe me, and their muscles felt as hard as wood. A player who
tried to join a scene in progress was always likely to be ignored. [...]
I began interrupting improvisors in mid-flight to ask them what they
were doing (I'd never acted so I need to know). Always they'd use
the past or the future tense. "I just came in the door," they'd say,
or: "I'm about to sit on the sofa"; no one ever said: "I'm wondering
where to sit!"
I realized that my own mind moved into the past or the future
whenever I felt insecure (Should I do this? Should I have done
that?), and that when I seemed to be 'listening' to someone I might
actually be thinking up something clever to say. My students were
showing an extreme version of this behaviour.
What's interesting to me is that it does not seem normal to be able to
improvise well. It appears to take a lot of practice being flexible,
limber - keeping the body and mind stretched. Keith Johnstone's book is
filled with preparations to make it possible to not be prepared. Just
one more quote from his book - under "Paradoxical Teaching":
... if you want students to master the art of 'not-blocking' ideas,
ask them to 'block' ideas (because then they'll recognize blocking
when it occurs inadvertently); and if you want them to act well, let
them have fun acting badly (this helps them shed a lot of fear).
Harold
On 4/6/12 3:27 PM, Thomas Herrmann wrote:
One way I do, that may be of assistance, is that I write those words
at the entrence -- and SURPRISED I write upside down -- clear message J
Cheers
Thomas Herrmann
*Från:*[email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] *För *Harold Shinsato
*Skickat:* den 4 april 2012 18:39
*Till:* [email protected]
*Ämne:* [OSList] How to prepare to be surprised?
Searching through the archives there were many many postings about "be
prepared to be surprised". But "How to be prepared to be surprised"
returned 0.
Any tips on how to prepare? It came up as a question today for me in
conversation with someone - and I can't believe I've never thought
about it before. How do you prepare to be surprised? Any thoughts, tips?
Thanks!
Harold
