Don't Be The Squirrel (Improvisation For Knuckleheads Part 2 of 2)

Monday, May 13, 2024

Happy Birthday Stevie Wonder, Georges Braque, Gil Evans

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Quote Of The Week:

“I don’t put boundaries on myself when I sit at the piano.”

Vanessa Carlton

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If you’re 35ish or older you probably remember Venessa Carlton

 

 

 

Or you at least remember her huge 2002 hit, “A Thousand Miles”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwkej79U3ek

Well, in regards to the above quote and with all due respect Venessa, she’s… wrong.

 She does, indeed, put boundaries on herself. In fact, just in the statement alone there are 2 boundaries already- sitting and the piano. We all put boundaries on ourselves, no matter who we are or what we do. We have to. There’s no such thing as not.

Remember The Wigs?

In Part 1 (see Blog #6) I promised to show you how to apply improvisation in your life effectively, no matter who or what you are, with an easy formula to get there. And that there is a musical metaphor in the Beethoven vs. Steibelt story I told (powdered wig is optional).

There’s also an art metaphor.

All of my Fine Art- both portraits and my “mindscapes”- is improvised with very little preplanning. I place the pen or brush on the top left hand corner of the canvas or paper (and now tablet screen for digital art) and start drawing, with no thought, usually while listening to music).

What comes out of my hand comes out in a completely freeform way. It is pure Free Improvisation and from my subconscious, similar to how a dream unfolds.

Remember this “Eroica” painting I showed in relation to Beethoven’s 3^rd symphony?

 

The 4’ x 5’ portrait of the woman was originally outlined on the canvas like this:

 

 

 

 

And, then, all of the details inside the outline were done in freeform improvisation by letting my hand go, without thinking or planning.

 

This is also the process for my “mindscapes”, my pieces that are not portraits. For example, here is the same concept behind my 4ft x 7ft painting, “Blue Monk”.  It’s always basic shapes first:

 

 

Then the details filled in, freeform.

 

 

"Blue Monk" 4 ft x 7 ft, acrylic and India Ink on weathered canvas

Some people call this “free improvisation” , similar to a jazz musician’s free improvisation. But my contention is that there is no such thing as free improvisation (sorry, Cecil Taylor).

Which finally brings us to you. Sort of.

 Stealing From Mickey 

 In order to talk about you we first need to talk about Michael Eisner. Bet you’ve never heard that before.

 

 

Eisner is the former Chairman of The Walt Disney Company and he wrote a book years ago called Work In Progress.

Eisner wasn’t the most loved CEO in Hollywood but the autobiography was a good read for me at the time, especially about his management of staff and “creatives” in storytelling and animation.

https://www.amazon.com/Work-Progress-Michael-Eisner/dp/0375500715

 In that book there are a couple of pages that maybe don't mean a lot to him but I’ve made a career out of them in my Artist talks, especially when I’m hired by businesses. The concepts on these few pages were a true eye opener for me. So, I stole them.

The concept is what I had been doing all along but I had never thought of it in his way. Anyway, yep, I steal from Michael Eisner.

Think Inside The Box

 In many cases, especially in business, we hear the phrase “Think Outside The Box”, usually from people who are trying to motivate or encourage others to be creative -“You need to think outside the box.”

For the most part, those people don’t want you thinking outside the box at all. They want you, especially in corporate situations, to tow the line and, at most, throw an idea or two their way.

Truth be told, they are asking you to perform an impossible task, thinking “outside the box”.

None of us are able to truly think outside the box; even the most outrageous, eccentric, whacko creative designer, architect, musician, artist, mad scientist, you can think of. 

We ALL have boundaries or constraints we can’t avoid in our work, home, relationships, life. If we don’t respect those boundaries there is great risk and usually much harm or much worse.

 Michael Eisner, on the other hand, says he would often ask his staff to (drum roll please. If you have a drum. And sticks)…

“Think INSIDE The Box”

It’s about learning to function and actually thrive inside of dictated boundaries.

[As a quick side note, there is a term that is trendy in corporate speak right now you might be familiar with known as “constraint-based innovation” but that is not what I’m referring to here.] 

Owning the Boundaries

Here’s how I see “Thinking Inside The Box”.

If you work in an office and are assigned a project, for instance, you have boundaries that are dictated to you: You know how much time you have, who you are working with, and what you are working on and you have budget constraints and limits. They become perimeters or boundaries, like this:

 

 

 

What’s important is to embrace these boundaries and use them to your advantage. The secret is to be your own creator inside these boundaries.

Your circumstances (project, job, boss, family, friends, etc) don’t allow you to break from those boundaries so it is up to you to OWN those boundaries. Thinking in that way creates an entirely new experience that makes the final result unique to you while respecting the limitations you are given.

There’s Real Estate In There

Music improvisation is a great metaphor for this, especially as a jazz soloist.

In a song, our limits are the melody, the chords, the rhythm and a form (verse, refrain, bridge, etc) within the song:

 

 

 

What’s important for the musician is the real estate inside of those borders. It’s theirs for the time they are soloing. This is the  “box” to think inside of.

Once we know these borders and limitations, we can work within them adding our own personal touches- our own sound, our own technique, our own ideas, etc. and still hold the audience (or gig).

Think about your favorite performer in any style of music. This is what makes that artist unique and recognizable within seconds of hearing them. A musician can play around within those limitations, making it unique to them.

This does NOT mean we need to conform or stay in the lines.

In fact, when a jazz soloist plays beyond the parameters of a song or melody, it’s known as playing “outside” or “out” (“Wow, your solo was really out,” said the jazz musician as he took a puff.). The Box is not the origin of the phrase in jazz but it might as well be.

The point is KNOWING what the parameters are and, if you want to go outside of them, you know where and how to return if you want to.

Boxes In A Box

My art is the literal illustration of this.

I know, when I start a painting, I need to work within a surface or space (in this case a canvas), what tools I will be using, my deadline and my budget or fee. That is Box #1:

 

In my case, like a jazz musician improvises within a song structure or form, I can also improvise within the form of the outlines I’ve created. As I showed above, these become my other boundaries to work with. 

Mr. Billingsworth

Anyone with a given structure in their day and in any situation, has the ability to improvise within that form.

Thinking Inside the Box gives you the freedom to be yourself and meet the needs of the assigned task. It makes your task much more of an adventure and it’s now your adventure, not Mr. Billingsworth the Middle Manager’s  adventure. Even though Mr. Billingsworth doesn’t know that.

And oh, by the way, your project will be so interesting and creative yet within the guidelines, Mr. Billingsworth will take full credit. Sorry, there’s that little issue.

Ah, good old back-stabbing, credit-taking Mr. Billingsworth.

Act Your Age

In my opinion, improvisation is one of those attributes that are neglected or trained out of us as we grow older. We’re expected to “grow up” and “be serious.”

But we all need improvisation skills, no matter our age. In fact, the older we get, the more this is true because it’s no longer about playtime all the time. We sometimes need it to survive.

Improvisation in life can mean something as small as deciding where you’ll go for lunch to a life saving decision on how to maneuver your car around a squirrel running back and forth across the street (also the decision to save the squirrel’s life, by the way).  Stoopid Squirrels. But I digress once again.

 

If a doctor, nurse, EMT, soldier, cop, or fireman doesn’t have at least some improvisational skills, it can cost lives.

If a teacher, therapist, or clergy member doesn’t have decent improvisational skills, it can cause life-changing issues for people who count on them.

And if a business owner, public servant, creator, employee, or boss doesn’t have the skills, it can cost them their livelihood.

You’ll Take Your Eye Out

So, how does improvisation apply to you?

As kids, most of us were great at living in the moment and improvising. But, as adults, we leave childish behaviors behind (okay, most of us leave behind childish behaviors behind) and we unfortunately leave behind a sense of wonder and play and discovery.

We tend to develop predictable patterns as we get older; safe and familiar ways of doing and thinking and being. These patterns tend to close us off from what’s new and unfamiliar. And this, of course, keeps us feeling comfortable and in that old pattern of the safety we know, for better and worse; maybe sometimes a little too comfortable not growing as a person.

But reality is mostly unscripted, and, lots of times, things happen that are different than what we expect. The practice of improvisation on any level can help us be prepared for the unexpected. It can help us to be flexible and adapt.

Aware of it or not, we all improvise all of the time in every aspect of our life out of necessity. So we might as well develop it and learn to enjoy it. 

Coffee. Glorious Coffee.

For example, you are utilizing improvisational skills when you wake up in the morning and you realize there is no coffee in the house. Oh, the humanity.

You improvise with the options you have in that moment. The “Box”:  

 

Within these parameters, there are choices:

You can jump off a bridge (not the best idea).

You can have a Coke out of the fridge (not for me).

You can skip the coffee (God forbid).

You can go to the market and buy coffee (if your no-caffeine headache isn’t too horrible).

You can get a coffee to go (what a country).

Those decisions are decisions of improvisation.

Don’t Be The Squirrel

In many situations, especially urgent matters, people typically “wing it” to get through their challenges. One of my favorite authors, Robert Greene, states “improvisation will only bring you as far as the next crisis”. I love Robert Greene but, in my opinion, he is confusing “winging it” with improvisation.

There are a thousand unavoidable things that can change course in every day, for better or worse, even just sitting where you are right now. And those situations call for our practice and honing of our improvisational skills.

The first thing is to be aware of this fact: Change can come at any minute of every day.

The squirrel is not aware of this. As far as we know. The squirrel is winging it. He/she is confused and, for whatever reason, he/she is frantically running back and forth in front of your car thinking THAT will save his/her life.

Here are my Life Words Of Wisdom: Don’t be the squirrel.

Awareness

The difference is that we can develop the skills of improvisation in any given situation in life by, first, being aware of the above fact that a thousand things can change in a day’s plans. And then develop the ability to confidently improvise our way through those situations.

We need to consciously be in the mode of improvisation during these times. In other words, the melody of the song has been played through and, at anytime, it’s your turn to take a solo and improvise. To be effective, simply acting off the cuff or winging it won’t do the trick.

Doctors, nurses, EMTs, soldiers, cops, and firemen do it. Teachers, therapists, clergy members, business owners, public servants, creators, employees, and bosses do it.

That mindset allows confidence and allows your improvisation to be more productive and more constructive. And that, like anything, is accomplished through practice.

Beethoven beat Steibelt..and everybody (see Blog #6) because he had his strategy planned all along- he put Steibelt in his place by using the framework or boundaries Steibelt himself had constructed. Working within that framework, Beethoven twisted and turned and played with Steibelt’s work, bringing it “outside” the box and then back in again.

Bennies

There are studies about the practical benefits of improvisation, as if we need to be told; improvement of active listening, collaboration, creativity and innovation, being a more resourceful thinker.

It also has social benefits, it can improve communication skills and it can improve confidence.

But, in this knucklehead’s opinion, the best benefit is that it makes life just a little more fun and a little richer if not a whole lot richer by milking the present moment and going with the flow just a little more.

Improvisation helps reconnect to that sense of play and fun and, if we allow ourselves to make mistakes, that can also lead to great adventures.

If you’re curious about the concept but uncomfortable about being uncomfortable, start small:

-Leave your house 20 minutes early, turn off the GPS in your car and get lost. For real. When it’s time, turn the GPS back on (these are wondrous times we live in).

-Go for a long walk in your neighborhood. Get lost. You’ll survive. Hopefully (please don’t sue me if you don’t).

-Invent a new sport with your 8 year-old twins. Have 6 bases to run. Name the sport. Maybe “Baskefootpicklesocball”.

-Write a fictional story for yourself with no structure but with a deadline of one week from now and a 1000 maximum word count.

Start with the sentence, “Turk had no idea how he ended up sitting in a canoe in the middle of a driveway but there he was, with a raccoon on his shoulder.”

 

-Buy a block of clay and start molding, no plan for the end result.

-Say Hi to a complete stranger, even better a homeless person, and see what happens in the next 5 minutes then say “Listen, sorry, I’ve gotta go. Nice talking to you.” Improvise and navigate the conversation. Be large and in charge.

Most of all (and I’d tell this to Venessa Carlton’s face) Don’t Be The Squirrel.

We’ll see you the next time.

Lennie

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