No, you didn’t read the title of this post incorrectly– and yes, the epic fall was me this morning on the sidewalk behind my apartment building.  Being late for work, two dogs desperate to get outside to…you know, snow, slush, ice and super slick dress shoes were not a good combination.

Beware of Falling Stickmen (Photo credit: GaijinSeb)

As we raced to the sidewalk adjacent to the park, the forces of the universe conspired against me.  The dogs pulled a little too hard, I ran a little too fast to keep up, my shoe was a little too slick, and there was a little too much ice.  I bit it– hard…like America’s Funnies Home Videos hard. Like, “Epic Fails of YouTube” hard.  And precisely at that moment of impact, when my left hip transferred its inertia to the immovable Earth, I had a revelation.

Sometimes, we get so caught up in the day to day necessities of life, we can be blind to the obvious.  We can overlook (as a matter of convenience) the decisions we make that can contribute to problems we’d rather avoid. It’s possible to save yourself from much heartache, headache, and worry by taking just a moment to regroup and plan ahead.

Many performers become overwhelmed by the challenges that can arise during the planning phase of any performance or event. Remember though, that if the small things aren’t dealt with, they can have much bigger implications later. Had I woken up 5 minutes earlier, I wouldn’t have been so rushed, if I had looked out the window, I’d have known to put on proper shoes to avoid the ice. The point is, with a little more planning I’d have avoided a (really) hard lesson.

In the performing arts, let’s all stop ignoring indicators of future problems. Let’s do a little bit more projecting and a little bit more planning. Who knows? Maybe we can avoid an epic fail like mine.

Stay tuned,

John-Morgan