Patricia Ryan Madson,
an Emerita professor from Stanford, is the founder of the Stanford Improvisers and a certified Constructive Living instructor. Winner of the 1998 Dinkelspiel Award for innovation in undergraduate education, she is author of Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up.
Everyday Spontaneity: Improvising Our Lives
“Improvising asks us not to be clever but rather to be awake,” says Patricia Ryan Madson. “It calls upon us to access our common-sense intelligence as well as our chutzpah. Sometimes as we age, the world starts to become gray and serious. We lose touch with our capacity for delight and play. Fortunately there is a yellow brick road back to this place of color and adventure: The world of improvisation offers a metaphor and a practice that can renew our vision and crack open our hearts to unexpected insights.