Back in December I saw a FB post that grabbed my attention, sparked some excitement and ignited a bit of fear. I saved it and kept looking at it for days, debating whether I should reach out and ask this stranger for more information about his improv class. I was excited. I loved improv in high school, but I was always so shy and never put myself out there in drama class. So I started this internal dialogue with all the reasons why I shouldn't do it.

"You aren't extroverted enough, you will get there and be shy."

"You don't have enough background in drama, everyone there will have experience."

"Things always sound funnier in your head."

"You need to save money, you're a single mom on a budget, the world is expensive AF right now."

"What if you fail at it?"

I asked a friend if she would join me, thinking if I have a friend go I will have accountability, she said she was never big on improv. Phew, another out.

But I kept going back to the post and reading David Webster's words over and over again. I always wanted to do something in front of an audience (I haven't really ever uttered that out loud to a big audience like this- well I say that as if a lot of people may read this LOL.) I always thought it would be amazing to be on Saturday Night Live or on a soap opera. (I actually was never a soap fan, only ever really watched Y&R and B&B as a kid with my mom, but liked the idea of playing different roles to entertain people while not being a huge celebrity.)

So I took a deep breath and sent David a message- and I had this preconceived notion in my head that he was going to be some arrogant guy who would laugh at me and my lack of experience, but I told myself I needed to do brave things and I always wanted to do more improv. The man who responded to me was far from who I envisioned writing back to me. He was welcoming, warm and made it sound so exciting- I was feeling brave and almost ready to say YES, get out the credit card and ignore the voice telling me I couldn't do this.

Then he said, "Classes will be Monday and Tuesday."

I found my out.

I had the kids on Monday and Tuesday night. I told him, "Oh well, it sounded fun, but I have my kids those nights." He said, "Oh you can bring them, there is space for them to hang out if they are old enough to just chill by themselves." I thought, "Oh shit, I am faced again with making a decision- the escape hatch wasn't truly an escape hatch." So I said I needed to think about it.

I planned on running. Running far away from Yarmouth and that improv class.

David wasn't going to let that happen. He messaged me again. "Hey we had so much interest we are now having a Wednesday class too."

So long escape hatch! The kid excuse didn't work on a Wednesday, I thanked him and said I still needed to think about it. I thought about it. Thought, "You are afraid of commitment, you don't want to commit yourself to something. Plus it's winter and it's cold and dark and you want to be home before 9 p.m."

But you know that annoying little voice that doesn't let up? Well it kept saying to me, "It's only for a month, just go for a month and then you can quit. You could regret this and you know you have FOMO. What if it's really fun?"

He messaged me again. "Hey I know you were interested, we only have 4 spaces left on Wednesdays. Also, you can bring a friend for free to the first class."

Then the scarcity mindset started settling in, only 4 spots, AND you can bring a friend so you aren't so scared. And then there was that other little voice that said, "HEY you know you need to get more comfortable behind the camera for real estate videos and need help getting out of your comfort zone to talk to clients. This could actually HELP your real estate business, make you dig deeper and get over those fears. Do I really need to keep coming up with reasons why? Get out the damn credit card."

And so I did.

I went to class that first night, with Theresa Cawood in tow, because I needed security and she's my girl to do videos with. I sold her on coming for our businesses, but also because she knew I was scared to try something new and she always tells me if I am doing something new or fun to tell her.

So I went. We went.

And that first night was fun. Everyone was welcoming. 95% of us had either never done drama or hadn't done it since high school. The studio was packed with so many people and their security blankets aka friends. We even saw a friendly face- Autumn Celeste Potter, who felt the same way I did.

I went home and thought, "That was fun, I guess I will stick it out the 4 weeks, but that will probably be it."

The second week the group was slightly smaller. I had more fun and hugged more people.

The third week I found myself looking forward to it, I even remembered some people's names.

By Monday of the fourth week I found myself wishing it was Wednesday already.

And now we are over 3 months in and I can't imagine NOT knowing these people. I have missed 2 classes and those weeks it felt like something was missing. It amazes me how in such a short period of time it feels like a family. Web said from the very first night that everyone had talent, that everyone was beautiful, and told us that his improv troupes became very close- like a family and I thought, "Well that was different. It was their job to all be together and be close." I was so wrong.

Web and Una Webster have created something magical on these weeknights in Yarmouth. These nights that we all look forward to. We laugh together, we cry, we laugh until we cry, we are growing, supporting and loving each other every step of the way. I am so very glad that I shut off the voice that made me fearful, that made me doubt myself and found every reason to say no.

The night the Portland Press came to watch and interview us I think everyone was brought to tears at one point or another as we all shared our stories, and what it meant to us to be there, the stories we told ourselves in our heads to NOT go, and how grateful we are for this community. (And I wasn't in the photos because I had to dip out early, because it WAS a kid night. That night as I hemmed and hawed about leaving the kids home for an hour or so, Marlowe said to me, "Mom, you NEED to go, you love this, go share that.")

If you have a love for improv and want to explore that, if you want to immerse yourself in more community, or you just want to spend 90 minutes being silly, laughing and growing, we'd love to have you join us. There are a few spots left each night and a new group forming in Brunswick and we would love to share with you the joy we have all found these past few months. Thank you Web and Una for bringing magic to my Wednesdays.  --Whitney Spaulding