How to improvise

First, you’ve got to let go. All of it: pre-conception, pre-judging, fear and Likes (by peer).

Once I survived a class on Survival in the Wilderness. Last week final? White Mountain, NH. Rain on the tent. Solo. Peanut butter. Nothing and no one around.

Just silence. Sound of the wood. Of my inner self (a mess) with hope, fear and dream. It surfaced that I was worried that VC’s would come out ( we grew up, hearing about migration to “safe” bunker, strategic hamlet etc… or else, unexploded ordinance and more likely our enemies would get us.)

Fear. Friendly fire. The enemy within. Betrayal. Multi-faced heroes. And so we live, one trade-off at a time, first gradually, then suddenly.

They say with more data, we can see a larger picture, broad and deep. Agreed. Our decision will be well-calibrated, taking many angles into consideration. Should we invade? How about predictive model of futures?

I am not surprised to see the rising popularity of pets. Can’t trust people. Sad day. What’s whispered in the bedroom ends up in the boardroom.

The legal profession prospers, since it’s always a triangle situation: judge/jury, accuser and defendant. Win or lose. Appeal or acceptance. Holmes is still at home, not in jail. And so it goes. Broadcasters are having their field days: many of them have become a story, newsworthy one.

We’ve got to improvise. How? Just let go. Fear, preconception, prejudice. Decades ago, I took many leaps of faith. One-way ticket. Never thought I would last this long. The “solo” week on White Mt amounts to nothing, in comparison. Still, un-invited fear has yet to be identified, rid-off and cast out. I still am a prisoner of my own making.

Learn from Papillion. Learn from Mandela. From Great figures who live large, drink heavy and yes, sometimes, they smoke. But then, who is the judge. What I most fear, was when it’s “All quiet on a certain front”. That’s when things start bubbling inside, like a shaken champagne bottle, ready to pop. A stroke of the heart. A sudden tight knot of conscience. Or the grip of a baby that won’t let go, for security.

Glad to be human. Glad to improvise to survive. Need I show you how? You’re the expert. Indeed, it’s my proposition, a realistic and humble one: May I learn from you, how to improvise, to live and to thrive. Corporate got their manual (HR lay off – banker box) women got their tips (in Women toilet while applying lip sticks) and the homeless show one another where the food bank is. How about me? Ask A.I. then.

More data. Larger context. Better-calibrated decision. But then, I won’t get to feel, to fear and to admire, as I once did, a blind classmate who also took the Wilderness Survival class on the White Mountain. To him, it’s all the same, night or day. At least we shared an instructor, the sound of rain drops and the downward rope propelling.

Goodbye for now. I need to put on my helmet for safety. It’s tough out there, down there. Sad days we are living. When a goodbye at school drop off might be the last.