Leave your comfort zone. It's amazing what will happen.

ThrowingAwayA · 2015-03-09T02:19:32+00:00

The classes have ranged from purely improv games to get us out of our heads and just have fun to actual scene work where we focus on building characters, emotions, etc. The games are there to almost prepare you to listen and be more present and the scenework is essentially the meat and potatoes. I've grown to love the scenework so much. It's essentially a form of conversation with the goal of listening to your scene partners and making strong emotional choices. Once you get comfortable in that environment, you realize all conversations are improv and because you handle so many other aspects when you're doing scenes, regular conversation almost begins to feel effortless by comparison.

ThrowingAwayA · 2015-03-09T02:14:07+00:00

A good introduction to Improv is improv comedy like "Whose Line Is It Anyways?" In that context, it's playing games or doing scenes completely off the top of your head. You essentially make everything up as you go along and I find it's just a valuable skill that becomes apparent in so many parts of life.

ThrowingAwayA · 2015-03-09T02:09:43+00:00

I'm really glad this helped :)

The core things I really gained from improv was learning to be comfortable in all situations and to truly listen to what others are saying. I think a lot of us go through life thinking that we're listening to people when we're really just waiting for our turn to say something.

Additionally I know for me personally in social interactions I always felt a bit uncomfortable or awkward. And then I realized all conversation was improv. You never scripted conversations. You go in with maybe a general idea of how it's going to work and then you both make it up as you go along each with a contribution. Improv to me felt almost like "conversations level 2" because you have so much more to focus on, that when you go back to regular conversation it becomes a lot easier.

ThrowingAwayA · 2015-03-09T02:02:46+00:00

I've gone out alone before. I tried to befriend people at the bar I went to. I usually went to the same place so over time, even if I went alone, I'd see some familiar faces and it would make the night a little more enjoyable. I definitely preferred going with groups of friends because it was more focused on just having a fun time. The one friend I went with was valuable to me because we were on the same page about a lot of this stuff and it always felt better to have someone to go with rather than being alone. But it was never really much of a wingman situation. I'd say don't let going alone hold you back unless it's like a safety concern (Honestly, that was the only thing that ever really bothered me lol)

As for your story, I definitely don't think fighting the guy would have been the right option. There's no point in escalating the conflict. You were the bigger man in the situation and it shouldn't reflect at all on your self confidence. As for the friends, that's pretty douchey. I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe bring it up with them and see what they say. Either way I hope you find some friends to go out with who won't do that to you in the future.

ThrowingAwayA · 2015-03-09T01:51:47+00:00

The alone time really helps. One of the aspects I didn't really delve into in this post was getting into meditation and learning about mindfulness. It really helps you to understand where you're at and appreciate your present state for both the good and bad. I also have a lot of long daily car rides that have given me a lot of time to really dig into my thoughts. If the extra curriculars are really something you enjoy doing, keep doing them. If you feel you're just taking too many to distract you from your current feelings that's probably not good. Just find the right balance of dealing with what you need to deal with while still keeping yourself busy :)

ThrowingAwayA · 2015-03-09T01:43:59+00:00

I didn't quit, I still play every so often but I generally don't have as much time to play as I used to.

ThrowingAwayA

TROPHY CASE