Thought for today:
‘Improvisation is too good to leave to chance.’
— Paul Simon
#thoughtfortoday #improvise #livemusic #Birmingham #tangerinedream #music #therapy #coaching
Last night I went to a gig, my first this year (I missed two due to Covid).
It was to see Tangerine Dream in Birmingham, so an overnight stay and they played many of the older music – albeit on much more modern synthesizers than were available 40 and 50 years ago.
The gig ended with an improvisation – 25 minutes long. In the old days, the band approached all their gigs as improvisations, and some of this was due to the equipment which was temperamental and unpredictable.
As I took the train home this morning I was reflecting on the joy of that final improvisation, and I realised I have a connection to this.
In my client work, I have to improvise. I am not a “structure” or “model” oriented coach or therapist. I work with what the client brings. We explore the themes around whatever is going on for them at that moment. We riff.
We improvise a conversation.
I do this with every client, every day. I usually see 2-3 one-on-one clients a day, so around 12-15 sessions a week at most.
There is real joy in heading into a session knowing that all you need is the skill to pick up the client’s thread and weave a conversation that is beneficial to them from that simple start.
