Say Yes
The first rule in theatrical improvisation is to say “yes”. The idea is to keep the action moving forward and create rather than destroy. I try to apply this attitude to my life, and here in Crete I was given the perfect opportunity to put my theory to practice.
We rounded the corner of the restaurant where we planned to lunch and were greeted by a small mountain of crates. Behind the crates, a group of young Greeks stood ankle deep in grapes, splashing and singing as the crushing continued underfoot.
I watched with a grin from across my lunch plate as they crushed their way through the crates, taking small breaks to pour glasses of raki and slap each other across the shoulder. When our lunch finished my eyes turned towards them once more. Obviously aware of my curiosity, they smiled and waved me over to join them. There are some things in the human spirit that need no translation.
At first I shrugged my shoulders: “No, no, I’ll just watch.” But then I caught myself: “Why not jump in? What do I have to loose?” I slipped my sandals from my feet and gingerly stepped across the threshold into the sweet, sticky goodness.
I could have stayed all day with that youthful bunch, stomping grapes, drinking raki and becoming drunk with the joy of life.
Say yes; you’ve everything to gain.
I like this story. In order to truly face yourself, you have ‘to get your feet wet’. Observing yourself while sitting down in your own thoughts, or in favourable company, won’t tell you anything.
Yes, in those moments of choice you meet yourself; all else is preparation.
Great attitude! I used to love improv when I took a class years ago…this certainly helps one have a better time while travelling =)
Indeed it does! I also find it helpful on a day-to-day basis; meeting new opportunities with a “yes” leaves little room for regret later.
Great post Ansley! Are those your legs on the far left? They look like they are watching the other legs to see how its done before joining the juicy jig!
Very observant Charles! But alas, this particular photo was taken before I jumped in – what you see are Greek legs
Photos of Asaf and I in the grapes to appear soon on RLT’s facebook fan page.
the story, so vividly expressed, teaches us, that transformation of any kind (like grapes into wine, etc) need the spirit of joy to accomplish it correctly. A secret undisclosed through the joy of kids in doing so.
Our Work becomes wine, and only then, if we practice it with joy.
Thanks Ansley
Thank you Maria! Yes, the subject of transformation also came to my mind while watching this process of grapes becoming wine. How necessary it is to go beyond oneself, into something more.
Thank you for allowing a back glance of 16-17 years back. As a young teenager I recall always saying ‘No’. After it came out, many times I had reflected back trying to understand why did I say ‘No’, when actually I wanted to say ‘Yes’. Few years later it started to change and I was saying ‘Yes’ to almost everything new. It was more like I was faster than the ‘No’ who tried to come out. With Saying ‘Yes’ I sometimes found myself in things I would not dream of, like being on a TV show on an Island in France… or, just last week, climbing with my bicycle in the middle of the night 1,600 meters, just to watch the sunrise above a sea of Fog. Maybe I am just enjoying not following that ‘No’ voice in my head, who is he to decide over my life?
Ron, lovely stories! I can only imagine you on a TV show, or climbing with your bicycle… These are the things in life we remember, much more so than what follows after turning down an opportunity. There is something so immediate about the “No”, so as you said, you have to be faster than the “No” and say “Yes”!
Ansley! This is great, I’m so proud of you. I’m very jealous of your travels. Can I come with you???
Hey Brandon! I don’t know what your schedule will allow, but you’re more than welcome to travel with us via RLTblog from wherever you are in the world. We’ll be traveling through the Cycladic Islands next, then to Athens, quick stop in Israel and home to California in time for Halloween!
An uplifting and smile evoking essay. Thank you.
Continue facing your life fearlessly.
Benjamin
Thank you Benjamin. I do my best to keep jumping into the unknown…
Dear Ansley,
so wonderfully refreshing !
Your post goes hand in hand with the last one of Asaf’s, about stability and flexibility. It demans the same decision process as for when to say a clear no or an open yes ! Traveling and exposing oneself intentionally to different kind of mentalities, cultures, religions and artistic expressions, is a natural way of developing that balancing sense in us. Keep sharing, it educates everybody !
Adreea, a lovely connection to Asaf’s post. Greece must be having the same affect on us!
Thank you Ansley, it is lovely.
It reminded me of the most instructive words ever written (in my view).
These words are Socrates’ speech about Eros in Plato’s Symposium.
The Symposium describes a feast with a series of speeches about who/what Eros is and the last one to speak was Socrates.
It is a little bit long, yet with and without Raki it is endlessly pleasurable.
Socrates speaking:
“And I shall let you go for now, and turn to the speech
about Eros that I once heard from a woman, Diotima of Mantineia.
She was wise in these and many other things; when the Athenians
once made a sacrifice before the plague, she caused the onset of
the disease to be delayed ten years; and she is the very one who
taught me erotics. The speech that she was wont to make, I shall
now try to tell you all on the basis of what has been agreed on
between Agathon and myself; and ! shall try to do it on my own,
as best I can. For just as you explained, Agathon, one must first
tell who Eros himself is and what sort he is, and then tell his
deeds. In my opinion, it is easiest to do this in just the same way
that the stranger once did in quizzing me. For I came pretty near,
in speaking to her, to saying the same sort of things that Agathon
said to me now that Eros was a great god, and was the love of
beautiful things. She then went on to refute me with those same
arguments with which I refuted him–that he is neither beautiful,
according to my argument, nor good.
“And I said, ‘How do you mean it, Diotima? Is Eros after
all ugly and bad?’
“And she said, ‘Hush! Or do you believe that whatever is
not beautiful must necessarily be ugly?’
“‘Absolutely.’
“‘And whatever is not wise, without understanding? Or
were you unaware that there is something in between wisdom
and lack of understanding?’
“‘What is this?’
“‘Don’t you know,’ she said, ‘that to opine correctly
without being able to give an account is neither to know
expertly nor lack of understanding But surely correct opinion is like that, somewhere between intelligence and
lack of understanding.’
“‘What you say is true,’ I said.
“‘Then do not compel what is not beautiful to be ugly, or
what is not good, to be bad. So too since you yourself agree that
Eros is not good or beautiful, do not at all believe that he must
be ugly and bad,’ she said, ‘but something between the two of
them.’
“‘And yet,’ I said, ‘it is agreed on by all that he is a great god.’
“‘Do you mean by all who do not know,’ she said, ‘or by
those who know?’
“‘No, by all together.’
“And she said with a laugh, ‘And how, Socrates, could he be
agreed to be a gmat god by those who deny even that he is a god?’
“‘Who are these?’ I said.
“‘You are one,’ she said, ‘and I am one.’
“And I said, ‘How can you say this?’ I said.
“And she said, ‘It’s easy. Tell me, don’t you assert that all
gods are happy and beautiful? Or would you dare to deny that
any one of the gods is beautiful and happy?’
“‘By Zeus, I would not,’ I said.
“‘But don’t you mean by the happy precisely those who
possess the good things and the beautiful things?’
“‘Of course.’
“‘And do you hold to the agreement that Eros out of need
for the good and beautiful things desires those very things of
which he is in need?’
“‘Yes, I hold to it.’
“‘How then could he who is without a share in the beautiful and good things be a god?’
“‘In no way, it seems.’
“‘Do you see then,’ she said, ‘that you too hold that Eros
is not a god?’
“‘What would Eros then be?’ I said. ‘A mortal?’
“‘Hardly that.’
“‘Well, what then?’
“‘Just as before,’ she said, ‘between mortal and immortal.’
“‘What is that, Diotima?’
“‘A great daemon, Socrates, for everything daemonic 15 is
between god and mortal.’
Daemonic (daimonion) is either a neuter diminutive of daimon or a neuter adjective,
related to daimon as divine is to god. This neuter, in any case, is the
theme of the dialogue up to Socrates’ speech that concludes with “vulgar and low.”
“‘With what kind of power?’ I said.
“‘Interpreting and ferrying to gods things from human beings
and to human beings things from gods: the requests and sacrifices of human beings, the orders and exchanges-for-sacrifices of
gods; for it is in the middle of both and fills up the interval so
that the whole itself has been bound together by it. Through this
proceeds all divination and the art of the priests who deal with
sacrifices, initiatory rituals, incantations, and every kind of sooth-
saying and magic. A god does not mingle with a human being;
but through this occurs the whole intercourse and conversation of
gods with human beings while they are awake and asleep. And
he who is wise in things like this is a daemonic man; but he who
is wise in anything else concerning either arts or handicrafts is
vulgar and low. These daemons are many and of all kinds; and
one of them is Eros.’
“‘Who is his father?’ I said, ‘And who is his mother?’
“‘It is rather long,’ she said, ‘to explain; but I shall tell
you all the same. When Aphrodite was born, all the other gods
as well as Poros [Resource] the son of Metis [Intelligence] were
at a feast; 16 and when they had dined, Penia [Poverty] arrived to
beg for something–as might be expected at a festivity–and she
hung about near the door. Then Poros got drunk on nectar–for
them was not yet wine–and, heavy of head, went into the
garden of Zeus and slept. Then Penia, who because of her own
lack of resources was plotting to have a child made out of Poros,
reclined beside him and conceived Eros. It is for this reason that
Eros has been the attendant and servant of Aphrodite, as he was
conceived on her birthday; for he is by nature a lover in regard to
the beautiful, and Aphrodite is beautiful. So because Eros is the
son of Poros and Penia, his situation is in some such case as this.
First of all, he is always poor; and he is far from being tender
and beautiful, as the many believe, but is tough, squalid, shoeless,
and homeless, always lying on the ground without a blanket or a
bed, sleeping in doorways and along waysides in the open air; he
has the nature of his mother, always dwelling with neediness.
But in accordance with his father he plots to trap the beautiful
and the good, and is courageous, stout, and keen, a skilled
hunter, always weaving devices, desirous of practical wisdom.
(Metis is the first goddess Zeus marries after the wars among the gods are over.)
He is warned in time not to allow her child Athena to be born, lest Athena’s children overthrow him; he swallows Metis, and Athena is later born from the head of Zeus.
Dear Jacob,
Thank you for sharing this excerpt. Indeed here in the Greek islands, one is reminded of the gods as one travels through the locations of their mysteries. We mortals acting out the plays they have set for us as they watch on…