 |
| New Idea: Tag Team Car Salesmen |
The hardest part of getting what I want is often deciding that I want it enough to ask for it or pursue it. There's a certain vulnerability in caring about a thing enough to go after it, to risk failing at achieving it and I am startlingly scared of that feeling. I am slowly learning, however, that success is often as simple as expressing interest.
Asking for stuff seems crass and makes me feel gross. I don't like the idea of needing things from other people, I guess. Some weird samurai code of honor compels me to believe that I can be good enough at the things I do that people will naturally ask me to be part of the cool things that they're doing. But what that dumb line of thought doesn't take into account is that other people go through the same struggle of confidence and fear of failure that I do. They don't ask because I haven't expressed interest, and I haven't expressed interest because they haven't asked.
I mentioned it in my Mid January Resolutions, but I've wanted to start a Storytown style thing in my hometown for about two years now. I don't know that I had ever really seriously mentioned it to anybody before last November. I talked to my boss at the Community School of the Arts about it and he seemed mystified by the idea, but he loved it. I talked to one improviser, then another, then an accompanist, and before I knew it I had rounded up six people who were also interested in making this cool idea happen.
It all started with admitting to someone that I wanted to start a musical improv show for kids. From there I just asked people if they wanted to try something new, and I got lucky with a few great people saying yes to me. Asking isn't going to get you everything you want, but it is a good first step. You can scheme and scrap and break your back, but first things first: Just ask.
No comments:
Post a Comment