Nervousness

I attended an Indian theatre workshop yesterday. It was a fun exercise and I met some rather interesting people. One meeting in particular stands out - the one with Angilique.

Angilique is a beautiful, demure french girl who was a ball of nerves when asked to perform a scene we were working on. I vividly remember sitting next to her, watching her fingers fidget over the script as she tried to memorise the lines.  She turned to me and said "Gosh, I am so nervous". My default response was to try and explain why there was no reason to be nervous. Everything was going to be fine. I tried to diffuse her anxiety with a few silly jokes. 

But now, when I think back to the situation, I cannot help but feel I  did her a great disservice.

Because anything worth doing, any creative endeavour, any new experience will come with a healthy dose of uncertainty. Trying to paint a picture that turns unknown into known is not only unrealistic, but also frames uncertainty as a bad thing. And action in the face of uncertainty as something to be avoided.

As Kierkgaard said "Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom" - it is a signpost of possibility.

If I could relive that moment again, I wish I had said -  I understand you're a nervous, so am I, but that's okay. It's really just your mind and your body saying that what you're about to do is something that really matters, that can be really cool and it's something that's a new experience for you. That's an amazing thing, because that's where the great stuff in life happens. In this place where we feel a little nervous, where we're doing something we've never done before.

I  guess its a lesson we all need to learn - that eliminating uncertainity is not a  pre-condition to action. Rather, nervous energy is a sign that you're about to do something that matters. 

What do you think??