10 Practical Lessons Learned From an Amazing Show

Apr 2018

Today’s post is about lessons learned from a recent outing to Cirque Du Soleil thanks to some friends who had a hookup. I had never been before and had heard great things about it. So, I was ‘pretty pumped’ to see what it was all about. Plus, Cirque is a Canadian company…so, even though I consider myself a Miamian these days, I still need to support my fellow Canucks!

Being the closet nerd that I am, I went online and did a bit of research beforehand. Actually, seeing as how I just told you that I am a closet nerd, I guess my nerdiness is no longer in the closet. Oh well, nerds are people too.

Anyways, thanks to my research, there were some lessons learned before I even got to the show:

What is Cirque Du Soleil Anyways?

The whole premise of Cirque Du Soleil is that it takes traditional circus skills and combines them with a more character driven style to convey a story or theme. Cirque Du Soleil took elements from a traditional circus and combined them with other art forms to come up with what is known as a contemporary circus. This gives us Lesson #1 which is Combining Different Ideas Together to Create a Different Product. You can employ this concept in your life by taking the best traits or characteristics that you observe in other people and integrating them into your life.

Jacques Who?

I also learned in my research that Cirque encountered some financial hardships early on. However, those hardships were relieved by a government grant from the Canadian Council for the Arts which was related to the 450^th anniversary of Jacques Cartier’s road trip to Canada. Which brings us to Lesson #2 – Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help! Sometimes you need to be a little bit like Jacques Cartier and ‘explore’ your network of friends and family to see who can help you when you hit a snag on something. People like to help others and you can’t get something unless you ask!

After some drinks and a bite to eat, we got to the show and took our seats, which were pretty damn good – thanks, Danielle & Kevin!

Wait, WTF Is He Saying?

The lights dimmed, and a male voice came over the PA system and started the introduction to the evening’s festivities while stuff started happening in front of us. Well, at least I think that’s what was happening – you see he was speaking in Spanish and ‘yo no hablo español’. Thank God for Google Translate! Simple logic told me that’s what it had to be as people were staying calm and remaining in their seats, so clearly, it wasn’t a fire evacuation.

Sensing the rest of us had no clue what he was saying, my friend, Isabella started translating what he was saying into English, which was very sweet of her. Which brings us to another of my lessons learned, Lesson #3 – Don’t Multitask. You see, listening to Isabella while trying to keep tabs on what was happening on stage was too much for my little brain to handle, so I tuned her out. Sorry Isabella, but thanks for being so sweet. A personal sub-lesson would be to pay attention in Spanish 100 instead of flirting with the girls in the class, a lesson not learned!

Leverage This!

The first thing that stood out to me was the athleticism of the cast. I ‘think’ I am strong and athletic – yeah right! These people are straight up badasses! One dude scaled a rope to what must have been a height of 50 feet, then proceeded to do flips all the way down, catching the rope each time – with no harness! ‘These performers must be ex-gymnasts’, I said to myself. Sure enough, many of them are! Which brings us to Lesson #4 – Re-inventing yourself. Sometimes in life, you need to be creative and figure out how you can leverage your skills to do something differently. For some gymnasts they go on to be stunt people, some become professional wrestlers, and some join the contemporary circus! Relating this lesson to self-improvement – how can you leverage your skills to re-invent yourself?

Risky Business…

I’m not sure if you heard about the Cirque cast member who tragically passed away recently. Sadly, something went wrong, his hand slipped, and he plunged to his death. The takeaway is the subject of Lesson #5 – Sometimes You Need to Take Risks. These performers put their lives on the line every time they step on stage to achieve something great by taking calculated risks, which unfortunately sometimes ends in tragedy. However, if they didn’t take the risk, they would not have the opportunity to do what they do. Are there areas in your life where you can take risks that can provide big rewards?

There’s No “I” in Team!

Many of the risks the performers take are mitigated by Lesson #6 – Teamwork. They work together to achieve a common goal, which is putting on an awesome show for the audience. No one is ever successful by themselves. How can you use teamwork to make your life better?

Do You Think My Fetish is Weird?

One of coolest acts brought back a fond memory from my childhood. Let me explain. The room went dark, and then suddenly the spotlight shone on a corner of the arena where a guy was completely submerged in a tank of water. He was playing guitar with no apparent breathing apparatus, I’m still wondering how he pulled that off. As for how it relates to my childhood, I swam a lot but no, I did not play the guitar.

The childhood flashback occurred when to my surprise, a mermaid appeared seductively swimming around him, which brings us to Lesson #7 – Creativity. Who in their right mind would think of a dude playing guitar underwater with some sexy mermaid frolicking in his midst? As to how it relates to my childhood…one of my most fond childhood memories was attending the Weeki Wachee mermaid show when I was little – and I’ve had a thing for mermaids ever since. My weird fetish aside, how can you be more creative in your life?

This is a Big Key to Success in Life

Seeing how difficult a lot of the stunts and acts they performed were, there is no doubt they were all very self-assured and supremely confident – which brings us to Lesson #8 – Confidence. Being a former athlete, I totally get how many professional and amateur athletes seem borderline cocky and why they talk trash. It is all a way of getting yourself to the point of having 100% belief in your abilities. Whether you are faking it to make it or using whatever positive self-talk you need to employ – you need to convince yourself that you are the biggest badass on God’s green earth. The same thing goes in your personal life if you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will. I am not telling you to be a cocky asshole, you need to be humble and always trying to get better, but it’s also critical that you believe in yourself!

Time for a Curtain Call

I could go on and on about different lessons learned at Cirque, but I will conclude this blog post with two that really hit home during the curtain call. First, you could really see how much the cast loves what they do, the joy on their faces was incredible, so, Lesson #9 is Love What You Do and Enjoy the Moment. Do you love what you do? Do you take time to enjoy the process and the small things in life? Life is just a collection full of fleeting moments, take time to enjoy them.

Finally, you could also see a sense of gratitude that they had for being able to perform, for being able to do what they love, and, for being able to bring joy to others. And that is how we will wrap up…with Lesson #10 – Be Grateful.

Speaking of being grateful – this closet nerd is extremely grateful to live in freedom, to be able to experience amazing things like Cirque du Soleil with good friends, for many lessons learned, and to be able to satisfy weird Mermaid fetishes!

Until next time, be nice to nerds and Mermaids, and as always…PYMFP!

Rick

Use It or Lose It:

To summarize my lessons learned:

  Combine different ideas together to create a different product
  Don’t be afraid to ask for help
  Don’t multitask
Think about how you can re-invent yourself
  Sometimes you need to take risks in life
The importance of teamwork
How can you be more creative in your life?
Confidence is crucial!
Love what you do and enjoy the moment
Always be grateful for what you have

What Do You Think About My Lessons Learned?

Have you been to Cirque Du Soleil? Did you have any lessons learned that were different than mine? Please share them in the comments below.

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4 Replies to “10 Practical Lessons Learned From an Amazing Show”

I.R. says:

April 30, 2018 at 6:04 pm

Sounds like your friend Isabella is very smart to do instant translation for you!

1. Rick, Bri and Howie says:
  
  May 1, 2018 at 5:28 am
  
  There is no doubt about it, and very considerate! Not her fault I can’t do two things at once!
  
Dave Savadge says:

April 30, 2018 at 4:56 pm

We saw a version of Cirque a while back in Vegas. An excellent show, lots of pizazz, gymnastics, acrobatics, lights, and people contorting their bodies into impossible positions. One routine involved performers doing synchronized jumps off elevated platforms onto a large trampoline, then twisting and gyrating before landing on another elevated platform on the opposite side of the stage. Basically, there were 6 guys constantly in motion at any one time, 3 on a side, with another 6 ready to jump. One jumper apparently realized in mid-jump that he would miss his mark on the trampoline and not make it up to the other platform. He hit the trampoline and immediately stopped himself from rebounding, then did a series of rolling somersaults off onto the floor. This occurred apparently quite near the end of the sequence, as within 10 seconds or so the other performers did the same, and all lined up for a bow. Maybe the one gymnast did not get enough sleep the night before, ate a bowl of bad chili, had a fight with his SO, or just plain goofed. Anyhow, I seriously doubt that many in the audience noticed this, or if they did, could care less.

The take away: Even if you screw up, 95% of the people you are with will not notice, 4% will not care, and the other 1% – well that guy is a total dipshit so ignore him. Just recover as best you can and keep on going forward. This is especially true in public speaking, being on stage in a play, or anything involving a group activity.

And unfortunately, no mermaids in this particular show. Dang!!

1. Rick, Bri and Howie says:
  
  May 1, 2018 at 6:34 am
  
  Great takeaway Dave, so true! Most people are too busy thinking about themselves anyway. Too bad there weren’t any mermaids, haha.