At one of my gigs last month, I had a conversation with a fellow performer about audience perceptions. He mentioned that the audience members that night didn’t seem to fully understand the difficulty of some of the skills being performed. Since that particular audience seemed less responsive than previous audiences, I suspected he was onto something. Let’s explore that, shall we?
Although I have a fair number of hobbies and have gotten pretty good at several of them, I’ve tried many more than I’ve kept up with. Trying a variety of skills has given me greater appreciation for those who can do them exceptionally well. Some things are much harder than they look, especially when they’re done by an expert. I’m often surprised at how difficult something is after watching someone else do it effortlessly. Even attempting something one time can often show me how hard it is to do it at all, much less to do it at a high level. Knowing firsthand how difficult something is allows me to better enjoy it when someone makes it look easy. I had some such appreciation for what several of the performers demonstrated at the gig since I’ve tried some of those things over the course of my life.
My late dog Sawyer made it look incredibly easy to comfort others. Having attempted to do a lot of that myself, I know firsthand how difficult it can be; when I forget, I’m reminded as soon as I attempt to comfort someone. It still amazes me how good he was at it and how effortlessly he succeeded whenever I felt upset. When someone needs support, I do my best to follow the example Sawyer set. Although it’s much harder for me than it was for him, the better I follow his lead, the more effective are the results.
I’ve mostly stumbled into the various things I’ve tried. There’s been hardly any conscious effort on my part to seek out new activities. As with most other enjoyable things in my life, the fun activities I’ve tried have mostly found me. The more things I try, the more people I meet with varied interests, and the more opportunities I have to try new things. Even when I haven’t tried a particular activity, I’ve tried enough to realize that most things are harder than they look, and that gives me instant appreciation for almost anyone who is doing something well. For the sake of performers everywhere, I wish more audience members would try a variety of skills so that they’d better appreciate those who can do them at a high level and reward them with more applause, cheering, and the like. Until then, I’ll continue enjoying watching talented folks make difficult things look easy and supporting them whenever I’m in their audience.