Bad improvisers block action, often with a high degree of skill. Good improvisers develop action.'(p.115).

Difficult for actors to extemporise in nineteenth-century English. Except for Robert Hardy and Elizabeth Spriggs, who speak that way anyway.

In order to fit our needs and wants, we are constantly adjusting and altering our behaviors and feelings. Metaphorically speaking, we are constantly giving birth to priorities; our priorities are perpetually reassessed and we perpetually adjust to accomplish them.Some call this 'Change.' I call it, improving ourselves by means through the inner self.

This Saturday? As in tomorrow Saturday? We have to give lectures in twelve hours? We're not prepared for that! I can't just pull a cyber-crimes lecture out of my ass!' He could, but it was the principle of the thing.

Improvisation is too good to leave to chance.

Style has a profound meaning to Black Americans. If we can’t drive, we will invent walks and the world will envy the dexterity of our feet. If we can’t have ham, we will boil chitterlings; if we are given rotten peaches, we will make cobblers; if given scraps, we will make quilts; take away our drums, and we will clap our hands. We prove the human spirit will prevail. We will take what we have to make what we need. We need confidence in our knowledge of who we are.

If we know that the inevitable setbacks and frustrations are phases of the natural cycle of creative processes, if we know that our obstacles can become our ornaments, we can persevere and bring our desires to fruition. Such perseverance can be a real test, but there are ways through, there are guideposts. And the struggle, which is guaranteed to take a lifetime, is worth it. It is a struggle that generates incredible pleasure and joy. Every attempt we make is imperfect; yet each one of those imperfect attempts is an occasion for a delight unlike anything else on Earth.

That, as my cousin Nord would say, is where my improvised lie falls apart.

Here’s how I learned to improvise: I played some music in the studio and I started to move. It sounds obvious, but I wonder how many people, whatever their medium, appreciate the gift of improvisation. It’s your one opportunity in life to be completely free, with no responsibilities and no consequences. You don’t have to be good or even interesting. It’s you alone, with no one watching or judging. If anything comes of it, you decide whether the world gets to see it. In essence, you are giving yourself permission to daydream during working hours.

Wasted tries, The many whys, Is it the soul of Compromise? Lows and highs, Believing in lies, In life we have to improvise. Frustration and cries, The last leg of sighs, You are the dreamer in disguise! To the guilt say goodbyes, Open your eyes, Your soul - I do so recognize.