Flow

Like some of the other ones, this post requires a little bit of explaining:

Since high school, I've always found inspiration in Mihaly Csikszentmihali's concept of “flow.” "Flow" roughly equates being "in the groove" -- it's the experience of being so absorbed in your activity that time and space disappear, and you completely lose yourself in the joy and wonder of whatever you're doing. You reach an “ecstatic state” where you are oblivious to technique, able to improvise and living in that dangerous place of extreme creativity. It's almost a higher state of being, one that comes through practice, technical mastery and, ultimately, a certain amount of surrender. Flow is also an intrinsic motivation -- a "high" if you will -- that makes you want to keep doing whatever it is that you're doing again and again. It's ephemeral, but extraordinary when you hit it.

And today, for the first time, I "flowed" with Slim Goodbody.

It started as a exhausting day. The school was a two-and-a-half hour drive from home, and my arrival time was early enough that Slim Goodbody Corporation was obligated to give me a hotel, but I opted to pocket the per diem and sleep at home. So, come 5:30am, I was on the nearly-empty roads, driving towards Pleasentville, NJ, blasting early-morning NPR and chugging Cinnabon coffee.

And when I arrived at the school, it appeared that nobody knew I was scheduled. After some finagling with the gym teacher, nurse and principal, we got a performance schedule, and I started set-up. Turned out I had a show for kindergarten through second grade first, and then third through fifth grades afterward. And both shows were, by specific request of the nurse, Musical Health Show.

(Have I mentioned here that older kids don't do well with Musical Health Show if they don't have to look "cool" in front of the kindergartners? Well, they don't. There's a reason that Lighten Up! exists.)

So, with a good first show out of the way, I readied myself for what seemed was a train wreck in the making. I started to think through some script changes (like I did the last time this happened), refreshed on my little diaphragm add-on, grabbed my sweatpants, consulted with the PE teacher about extra "Champions Challenge" feats, downed a Coke and said a prayer.

And, as I strutted out and saw the glazed-over eyes of fifth grade boys and girls who were "so totally above this," I let it all go.

First, "Coach Slim" came out. Next, the script turned into an outline. After that, I started throwing in extra facts, things I know are true, and are things a fifth grader would care more about. I pointed out people in the audience who were zoning out, spoke directly to them and made them pay attention. The energy level went down, and the whole show turned into more of a conversation. And, guess what? It worked. The show was nothing like any other show I've done, but it worked. I was completely in it, and the kids were in it too. Excitement build during participation activities. I got fifth graders to call things out during the shows! And I was so enthused, that I drove all the way back home in one shot, with no extra caffeine at all.

If my mission is to get the information contained in the script across in an entertaining and educational way, this may have been the most successful. And it's made me think that, in future shows, the way to present this whole thing is to just let it come out. I was starting to get sick of doing Musical Health Show, as it's all almost I've done for the last thee weeks. But, after today, I'm excited to get that sucker back up on its feet, and I am (almost) excited to get my next fifth grade audience!

Call tomorrow: 7:15am. We're off to Levittown, PA!

Kid quote of the day: During the "flow" show, I asked the audience if junk food had a lot of nutrients. After a resounding "no," a third grader in the front row complained, "But it tastes so good!"