Written by Alan Rhoads
‘Aye Matey!’ ‘Swab that deck!’ ‘Shiver me timbers!’ Ok everyone, admit it. When you read the title ‘Walk the Plank’, these are a few of the phrases you thought of. You cannot read the words Walk the Plank and not think of pirates. But this is not about pirates, and it’s certainly not about methods of execution or punishment. It’s about how we feel when we face a challenge, and not letting the concern about an uncertain future stop you from taking that next step. Let me explain.
Close your eyes and imagine that you are blind folded and that you are standing on a plank hanging off of a ship over the crashing ocean waves. OK, so don’t close your eyes and imagine it because if you do you will not be able to read the rest of the article. Keep your eyes OPEN and imagine it and keep reading. If you take a step it’s going to get more wobbly than where you are now. And you know for sure that after a couple steps there is no longer going to be plank to stand on. You will crash into swirling waters and probably meet you demise. You are a goner! But you are blind folded so you can’t really see the end result. You do not know if it will be one or two or ten steps. Maybe there is someone there to catch you. Maybe this is just a test of your courage – to see if you will take that first step. Or are you someone that needs to be poked and prodded to make a move.
I am sure the following analysis of our walking the plank can apply to many facets of your life, let me use the theater and try to draw some parallels.
So here you are. You’ve been thinking for a long time ‘I’d like to try that.’ I’d like to maybe audition for a show. I’d like to get more involved. I’d like to spread the word about the Old School Theatre or learn how to run lights and sound or direct a show or sell tickets or usher or….. You are all standing on the plank. However, you are blind folded so you can’t see the end result. Based on the laws of physics and the things you have seen before, you come to the conclusion that if you take a step, things are going to get wobbly and you will soon lose your balance and fall off of the plank, crash into the sea, and be gone forever. You conclude that before you take the first step you will perish – that you will be a failure. So, before you even get started, you rip off the blind fold and hop off of the plank. You never take the first step!
Fortunately here is where the parallelism stops. With the theatre, you do not have someone poking you with a spear so you take a step farther out on the plank. Here, you have friends who are out on the plank ahead of you who will encourage you take a step – at your own pace. You actually have people on the plank beside you holding on to you to help you take each and every step you want to take. Now that does not guarantee that you will not fall off of the plank, but if you do, there are people there to catch you. There are people there to help you get back on the plank and continue your journey. There are people to help you go all the way to the end, wherever the end of your plank may be. And when you have reached the end, and you take that last step – off of the end and into the abyss – you realize that there is no abyss. You have not perished, but actually you have succeeded. You have conquered your fear of the unknown results. You have not allowed your human frailties to stagnate you. You have tried something new and you have done it. The theatre is NOT about superstars doing their parts and never making mistakes. It’s about people doing things that make them better people. It’s about building relationships and learning new skills and overcoming our own individual inhibitions and allowing others to see and enjoy those triumphs. It’s all about standing on a plank – blind folded – and taking that next step.
We want you to take that next step, whatever it may be. We want to see you and help you and enjoy watching your journey as much as we have enjoyed our own. We want you to succeed. We want you to Walk the Plank!!!
