Discover Versus Invent

Invent: Create or design (something that has not existed before); be the originator of.

Discover: Find unexpectedly or during a search.

Impro, like any art form, creates something that did not exist before. In that sense, when we are improvising, we are taking part in the act of creation; we are originating something. But is that all? 

When I think of an “inventing improviser”, the first thing that comes to mind is someone who works too hard. Someone who sweats and hyperventilates. Someone who is so locked into their own invention that they do not pay attention to the other possibilities that are presenting themselves to him/her/ them. 

This is when discovery comes into the picture. Can we combine inventing and discovering? 

Can you create something and at the same time allow it to surprise you in unexpected ways? 

For me, the more I improvise, the harder it is to be surprised.

My brain knows its ways; it has its paths, habits, and patterns. If I don’t leave out space for the unexpected, I will play the same show over and over again in different versions of it. Sometimes I do.

The thing that keeps me surprised, the thing that brings the unexpected, is paying attention. 

It is all very good that we have an idea and we know where the scene/story could go. But if we are locked in this idea, forcing its creation, then we cancel the possibility of allowing the story/scene to present itself to us. We are driving on a one-way street with full gas, but we don’t look at the surroundings, at the person sitting next to us, or the future of the car. They can all lead us into the unexpected.

For me, there is no bigger joy than when something marvelous that I never saw coming is happening to my character, the scene, the story. In those moments, I don’t feel like I’m “doing a show”. In those moments, “I am the show”. 

In Judaism, there is the concept of “All is predicted, and permission is given”.

You can interpret it in many ways. One of them is: every single scenario of your life was pre-decided, and you have the ultimate freedom to choose each time anew which one will unfold. 

I love thinking about it like an impro show. We come to the show with some predictability, some sense of what it is we are looking for, some form. But the freedom we have inside the form is infinite. And the discoveries that await us if we are open to them are endless and beautiful. 

It’s not always easy to be in this state of mind. But it’s something to remember before a show if we are having a “not in the zone” day. 

Have a wonderful new civil year, people!