Practice All the Things

Nearly a decade ago, I stood in the wings of a stage, preparing for twelve minutes of a two-handed scene that we’d been working on for about six weeks. It may have been amateur theatre, but there were people in the audience I’d invited who weren’t my family, and my nerves had me pacing the tight confines.

I don’t know what I did that night to collect myself. I know that as we had practice, Sean and I rode our rollercoaster of a scene. There was dancing and frustration and crying, and it somehow all worked. We’d done just enough practicing that the scene flowed.

Practicing is one of my favorite magical words. It’s certainly a place where Yoda and I part ways.

There’s a permission to not be perfect inherent in how I define practice. Learning a skill, trying a new sequence, and working on a challenging bit of behavior all require room to mess up. Knowing I’m practicing allows that room and limits the amount of self-flagellation my brain attempts.

This morning though, practice popped up differently.

Scrolling through the book-of-face before trying to finish off the last of my morning sleep, a video post of Mel Robbins’ floated past. I had the sound off, so all I caught were the printed words that may have said something about finding courage.

What if I practiced courage instead? None of this mythical quest to find a nugget of this magical bit that makes scary things possible, just practicing courage so that when I need it, I know where to put my hands to find it.

What would practicing courage look like? Starting small, for sure. A small ask or a short-term step outside of your comfort zone. A little thing every day. Courage lives within our wholeness. Sometimes, we have to invite it out again. Find where your courage lives within you, exercise it, and then give it a hug.

What else could I practice? Could I practice being angry? Could I practice grace? Could I practice being sad? Could I practice talking to myself kindly? Could I practice being tall? Could I practice joy?

What things would you add to your practice list?