The Struggle:Taking a Break vs. Working Through It

I've been through the cycle of getting frustrated with improv, desperately wanting to quit, and falling back in love with it several times. When I first started feeling this way, my reaction was to grind through all of my troubles. I tend to do this with a lot of things in life. Tough it out, everybody's got problems. All I need to do is improv harder and I'll fix every issue I have.

I should know by now that increasing the intensity of something I'm struggling with isn't generally a good solution to whatever problem I'm facing. In fact, it almost always makes the issues I'm having worse. The reason for that is because I very rarely take the time to actually examine the things that are bringing me down during rehearsals or shows. I just tack on more rehearsals, more shows, more responsibilities and on and on until the wheels come off and I can take no more.

Now-a-days I decide to take a break, which is something I was terrified of doing before. I very much doubted my own work ethic and commitment to anything. I felt as though if I took even one step away from something, I'd continue stepping back until I'd quit entirely. It's a really strange fear when you're talking about improv, because if improv and performing are something I love and enjoy then they would logically not be very easy for me to quit doing. Logical or not, it's still the way I felt (and sometimes still feel).

Here's my prescription to myself and anybody who is struggling to fully enjoy something they usually love: take a breath. Take just enough time away from that passion to remind you why you loved it in the first place. Find something else to enjoy for a little while. Set a firm limit on the break that you are taking and adhere to it (no coming back early or late!).

If you want to work through it, really take the time to analyze what you're struggling with. Identify why you're not having fun and deal with that. Talk to people, tell people how much trouble you're having and ask them to save you when the troubles come up. There's no reason to tough it out alone in improv, find a way to connect with a teammate or fellow student or your teacher. In the end, you'll both be better for it.

You can step back without quitting entirely and you can work through issues with the help of others. Don't collapse under the weight of your own expectations.