(My) Values and Living Them Out (as Human-Person Me)

A conversation with a dear friend yesterday about values and living them out got me thinking again about checking in on my own. It's been really important to me to be able to state them without looking back at any writing, but here we are, nearly to November: it's been nearly a year since I again defined how I want to think about all this (i.e. New Years), and I STILL cannot offer them up when prompted. This think-through is another chance to change that.

After this great conversation, I revisited my most recent check-in, and noted that the three words I had condensed down to still didn't feel quite right. This got me thinking again about "priority/ities," and how they function in our lives. To the same tune of thinking about "buckets" for how you divide your resources, I got thinking about buckets for collecting your priorities (or as I'm taking to discussing them, at least in this post, how you "live out your values"). While I am down with the "values" word, I think the "priorities" word has too much baggage for me. Instead, I'm leaning toward this:

Values and Living Them Out.

I also tend to lean away from the "mantra" word, as feels to me like a co-opting of something I don't entirely understand. So I'll stick with values. The thing I want to memorize/ that I am returning to after trying some words that didn't feel like they fit:

Vitality

Purpose

Contribution

Even "Purpose" to me feels a little stagnant - it feels like a thing that exists rather than is constantly developing. Perhaps its just a matter of me reframing it for myself while remaining open to the idea of change. 

As for the "Living Them Out" part, this comes in so many ways for me, but there are three main categories I feel have emerged in my (copious) amount of time thinking about all this:

Growth

Relationships

Dance

I think this is resonating for me because these three categories really serve all three of those above values. To me, "Growth" includes health and leaning into curiosities, which for me often intersect as subjects like food, cooking, sleep optimization, building presence and movement. It also serves my topical curiosities about things like music, mystical lore, fashion, personal finance, emergency preparedness and simplicity. Really, I believe curiosity and following to me tantamount to being a healthy human-person. In this way, Growth allows me to live out Vitality, Purpose (curiosity leading to new ways to find Purpose) and Contribution (therein helping me contribute more to others as a result of my own discovery of what is working for me in striving to better myself as a human-person). 

"Relationships" is my container (love this "Container" idea, Leo Babauta) for Kris, my parents and his and our brothers and sisters and my friends. I consider these to be my closest and most important relationships - I value the ones I have in working scenarios, though perhaps consider them to be a part of that "Purpose" value. That said, I also consider these listed Relationships to be part of my Purpose, as well as my Vitality of course, and a way that I am able to offer Contribution. It's all connected. My own work on myself an delving into curiosities often makes its way back to the people I care about, helping them figure out their own best modes of self and curiosities. Therein, the Relationships container fulfills all three of my values as well, in very interconnected ways.

And the big D, "Dance." It feels important to state that I am completely open to the idea that the label on this may change (or be added to) some day. For now, I feel Dance is also a big three container for my own Vitality (health, focus, dedication, determination, curiosity), Purpose (it feels most resonant here, as "Dance" and "Purpose" feel nearly interchangeable to me) and Contribution (it is my way of contributing to others through helping them find joy in moving their bodies, connecting to others, finding presence in themselves, connecting to history through education and performance). 

Therein, 

Values: Vitality | Purpose | Contribution

&

Living Them Out: Growth | Relationships | Dance

This is how I check in.

Jill Bernard's "Drum Machine"

Another post following a performance viewing experience!

On Wednesday night, Kris and I went out to catch Jill Bernard's "Drum Machine" at HUGE Improv Theater, and I'm really glad we did! The gist of this performance scheme is that the improvisor takes a topic suggestion from the audience (as is common in improv) and then works one on one with a pianist to turn it into a musical on the fly. If this sounds amazing . . .

This clearly isn't something just any improvisor can do. Speaking from the standpoint of a (jazz) dance improvisor, I can say this with confidence. It's one thing to feel comfortable enough to make up some movement on the fly. It's another for it to feel cohesive with the sound, the aesthetic at hand, and the movement being in-the-moment selected. The same really rings true here. It's one thing to make up some lyrics on the fly. It's another for them to follow a catchy tune and be in key and modulate with the pianist. And that's just the musical aspect. It was a whole 'nother ballgame for her to make it all humorous and to track with the topic. And the topic this time around was the Spanish Armada.

Talk about intellect and wit! You have to be encyclopedic to manage creating a humorous musical on the fly about the SPANISH ARMADA. Beyond this, it was a true pleasure to witness the thought process of Jill and the accompanist. It's so fascinating to watch humans think and perform at the same time. This is not to say there were moments where I found myself thinking "Oh, she really looks like she's processing right now . . .," but it is to say that to me, it feels like part of the electric energy that makes any kind of improv so interesting. To do and to view.

Apparently this concept used to be the performer and a drum machine for music (thus the title), though she has now moved to using piano accompaniment, even when she travels. She'll ask the community she's in for a recommendation on a piano player, and says that it's worked out every time - a totally heartening thing! I think I'd love to see the original concept with the drum machine some time too, as seeing the performer generate the accompanying sound as well would just be a trip.

In short (which this has to become because it's time to do other work!), witnessing the musical-comedic-improv prowess of this on-the-fly performance was utterly captivating. I'm grateful to live in a community where such awesome performance is happening all the time, including on a Wednesday night in September! Cheers, Jill.