"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players." - Shakespeare

     Shakespeare, a great student of life and people, saw through the illusion of life and understood that we play our roles and characters during our time on Earth. Our world is our stage and we have many scripts available to us. Some roles we are born into, such as race, class, and religion. Other roles we choose to play, such as being a parent, a spouse, or a even a homeowner.
     In my own case, I went to school for law, then became a business owner, until finally answering a call to be a healing facilitator. I have had these roles in my life and I truly enjoy helping people heal their lives and bodies. Similarly, I am certain that there are roles in your life that you enjoy as well. The challenge comes when we over identify with a character we are playing.
     We have heard this past summer how the actor Heath Ledger may have over identified with the character of the Joker he portrayed, leading him to experience a deep depression. What we need to realize is that anytime we over identify with a role we are playing we run the risk of falling victim to ego and illusion. We may play parents, spouses, employees, etc. but that is not who we are. We have the choice to change our characters and change our roles.
     Improv is acting with fluid roles and fluid characters. As our lives change we need to change with them. If we try to hold onto a role when it needs to be released we create difficulties for ourselves. The challenge is to play our roles and characters with joy and passion but not to become limited or trapped by them.

The Seed, whether through love, luck, hate or ambivalence, it knows not, cares not, is planted.

 

With undivided attention or ignoble ignorance, it takes root.

 

Struggling, it begins to form, slowly yet unyielding, it will not be denied. It’s will to exist too strong.

 

It grows, nourishment coming from its environment. Getting bigger, stronger, spurred on by outside stimulus. It feels, reacts, striving to be seen, to be heard, to be felt.

 

The surface is broken. It comes to form, no longer ignored or forgotten. Pushing through with the strength of its surroundings, welcome or not.

 

It is fresh, new, unscathed; brought forth not of its own volition but through the will of another.

 

Its intentions, motivations are none. It seeks not to transform or transfigure but simply be.

Content to respond, rather than produce. Stimulated by interaction it reacts to reaction.

 

Showered on it thrives, growing strong. Encouraged by the attentive light, caressed by its embracing warmth, it blossoms.

Ignored by the mindful dark, chilled by the cold reception, it withdraws.

 

Now grown, it survived, not only a creation, now a proponent. Still reacting to but not satisfied, it acts. No longer a victim of circumstance but a perpetrator of events, now and yet.

 

Strong, capable, weak, feeble, it has learned, adapted to what is taught and delivered what it learned, intentional, unintentional, real, or imagined, no matter.

 

It affects its space and stakes its claim. Comfortable or not, healthy or not, it is what was created and is what it creates.

 

The seed persists; changed, the same. Evolution, natural selection, creation, conscious choice, all interconnected.

 

Affected and effected, in full bloom, its time short. The course run, time to sow or no, it matters not. Whence it came it now returns.

 

Back to the beginning, if not the end.