Practicing practicing

We do a lot of practicing in life. We practice our hobbies or our arts. We practice exercises or sports. When we’re in school we practice math and spelling.. After all, practice makes perfect, right? But have you ever considered the task of practicing itself? Practicing anything requires immense patience, persistence, and determination. If your child has ever tried something new, I am sure you have seen first hand how hard it can be to simply… practice. As a new learner, it can be overwhelming to even know where to start. It’s hard to understand why you aren’t able to grasp something, or why others can do it better. You want to know right now how long it will take you to figure this out, and exactly what you need to do to make that happen. When we practice something, we are living in the unknown, and that is tremendously scary. 

At the Drama Spot, we try to do a lot of practicing. We practice songs, games, portraying characters, creating costumes… anything, really. We just practice practicing. We do it over and over again, reflecting on our learning and growing in the process. We talk about feeling frustrated and impatient and we celebrate all our hard work when we finally accomplish our goal. Yes, students are learning the aspect of theatre that they practice, but they are also learning stick-to-it-ness, and how to have grace with oneself. 

So, embrace the new - for yourself and the learners in your life! Any time you are working hard at one thing, you are preparing yourself to improve at EVERYTHING. That’s a pretty worthwhile investment, huh?