We’re fans of Oliver Burkeman’s newsletter, not least for its title, The Imperfectionist. In his latest, the writes about the challenge of the Inconceivable, inspired in large part by the writings of Buddhist thinker John Tarrant.
He acknowledges the difficulties of managing uncertainty but asks:
“But what if sometimes you didn’t need to get a handle on your situation before relaxing, or before plunging forward?”
After sharing some interesting examples of coping with adversity, he offers this further provocation:
“what fun could you have, once you glimpse what pre-modern people… knew intuitively – which is that since life is so intrinsically confusing and precarious, joy is going to have to be found in the midst of the confusion and precariousness, if it’s to be found at all?”
When groups get stuck, it’s often because they are holding on to something that they feel they can’t let go of. But often, when they do, they’re pleasantly surprised. One of our favourite improv principles is Letting Go: it’s not some universal rule, but we often realise the benefit when we practice it.
Burkeman offers this further insight:
“The burst of motivation we sometimes feel when we embrace a new philosophy or outlook on life… is often really just the freedom of giving up the old one. You let go of some framework that was supposed to be helping you wrap your mind around the world, and you relax instead into the only thing we can ever really depend on completely, which is doubt.”
We sometimes say a big part of the work of facilitation is to notice and disrupt trances – those times in groups where we sense things are following some outworn, safe pattern but we sense beneath it the potential for something new. We use the metaphor of a child swinging on monkey bars: we might be unwilling to let go of the rung we’re holding onto without a guarantee of being able to get to the next one. But if we don’t let go, we’ll never experience moving forward.