follow your dream

I grew up on the windswept prairies of Southern Alberta. My nearest neighbour was two miles away from us and living that far out from civilization meant that I had limited access to radio stations and quite naturally the strongest signal was a country station.

This meant I spent much of my childhood sitting under that massive prairie sky watching the clouds roll by while listening to the crooning of a steel guitar and people telling stories in song.

Many of these songs I still have memorized and for some reason some of these songs come back to me now, and roll around in my head. One of these songs is The River by Garth Brooks. In it Garth encourages us to get out there and work for our dreams. Here are the lyrics.

“The River”

You know a dream is like a river
Ever changin’ as it flows
And a dreamer’s just a vessel
That must follow where it goes
Trying to learn from what’s behind you
And never knowing what’s in store
Makes each day a constant battle
Just to stay between the shores…and

I will sail my vessel
‘Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I’ll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
‘Til the river runs dry

Too many times we stand aside
And let the waters slip away
‘Til what we put off ’til tomorrow
Has now become today
So don’t you sit upon the shoreline
And say you’re satisfied
Choose to chance the rapids
And dare to dance the tide…yes

I will sail my vessel
‘Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I’ll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
‘Til the river runs dry

There’s bound to be rough waters
And I know I’ll take some falls
But with the good Lord as my captain
I can make it through them all…yes

I will sail my vessel
‘Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I’ll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
‘Til the river runs dry

Yes, I will sail my vessel
‘Til the river runs dry
‘Til the river runs dry

In case you are interested here is a video of Garth performing the song in 1992 (when it hit the top of the Billboard charts).

Now get out there, choose to chance the rapids, and chase that dream!

If this is true, what else might be true?

When you dare to dream, all kinds of things suddenly become possible.

I’m not sure when I stopped pretending, but I’m sad that I’ve lost the skill. I used to spend hours in the woods behind my house creating things, and building cities, and fighting warlords. I used to fly to the moon, bounce around on mars, and dig to the centre of the earth.

Now, I just stay at home and lie around.

Okay, so maybe I’m being a bit melodramatic. But that is how it feels at times, especially when I think about the potential that others have. I used to believe so strongly in my potential to do anything. Now, I find it hard to believe I can do regular things.

One of my favourite improv classes was the Character class, because there are so many good tools for filling in ideas quickly (like in this post last week). Often it boils down to a simple rule. If this is true, what else could be true.

It might help to look at your life as if you were an outsider, or maybe an improviser who only knows a couple things about you. Imagine someone you are just meeting who has a couple characteristics in common with you. Maybe they grew up in the same area, and share some of your training. Then ask, “If these things are true, what else could be true?” and try to come up with a really interesting character.

Feel free to come up with some unbelievable suggestions.

Maybe, like me, they grew up on a farm in rural Canada, and have a Certificate in Social Innovation. If this is true, then it is also possible that they have created a new way to ensure a safe, and delicious food supply to the homeless within a major urban centre. Or, if this is true, then maybe they are working on urban agriculture while employing those who are under employed. Or, if this is true, then maybe they are helping cities open up their utility right of ways for community gardening.

As you do this exercise, I’d encourage you to explore and dream. Maybe something will connect for you that you had never thought about before, or something you had put on a back shelf and forgotten about.

The point is, I bet there is all kinds of potential wrapped up in your past experiences and training.

As Amy Lisewski puts it in Relax, We’re All Just Making This Stuff Up!

“You are more than one piece of yourself: more that you job, your degree, or even your passion. You are brimming with possibility and untapped courage. Take this opportunity to explore yourself like an improviser. I hope you are surprised and delighted by what you discover.”

You have to start with something, so why not start with anything.

There are few things more terrifying than a blank page. There are so many possibilities. So many ways to start. So many things that could be said. How could you possibly pick?

The same could be said about designing a deck, or picking a name for a child, or a colour for your room, or … .

Chosing can be extremely tough, especially when you are working with someone else. I know you have all had the experience of standing with some friends after a movie or something when someone says, “So, where do you want to eat?”

That question is almost as terrifying as a blank page. Often since everyone wants to be seen as the supportive, no drama friend, no one makes an initial offer. We don’t want to impose our will on others, so we defer. “I don’t know, where do you want to go?”

I wouldn’t fault you for thinking the same thing could happen is everyone sticks with the rule, “Say, Yes! And…” While everyone waits for an offer so they can be supportive, very little gets done.

Here’s the thing. You have to start somewhere, so you may as well start anywhere. The novel doesn’t have to be fully completed. You don’t have to have an idea for a character. You don’t have to know what the preferences of everyone in your group is. Nor do you need to know exactly what shade or chartreuse would go best with your bedspread.

All you need to do is make one little choice.

The improv world has a little exercise that might help us develop the ability to make that small initial choice. This is an exercise which helps improv actors quickly create different characters. Now, developing a character can be a daunting task. It is really hard to come up with a fully formed character, and know how they walk, talk, and see the world. It is almost impossible to do that within 3 seconds as you enter into a scene. Yet, improv actors do it all the time. Naturally, they draw on experience (on practice) of being on stage previous times, but also exercises like this one:

Walk slowly around a room at a natural pace and gait.

Pick any body part (the first one that comes to mind), and lead with that body part. Imagine that you are walking up to a waterfall and want that part of your body to get wet first. This could be your pinky toe, or it could be your left elbow. It doesn’t really matter, and since there is no really proper way to lead with your left elbow you can do it however you want.

Then, exaggerate those movements a bit, and add anything else that feels natural. If someone actually walked like this, would they walk faster, or slower? What would their facial expressions be like? Would they speak with a drawl, or use fast, clipped, sentences? Finally, what might that person’s name be?

In no time at all, you have created a character. All it took was a single small decision.

So, maybe you are staring at a blank page in your life. Thinking about starting over, or wondering what to do for university, or trying to come up with the next big business disruption. Whatever it is you want to do, make a small choice in that direction, and then add to that choice.

You have to start with something, so why not start with anything?