It’s a Monster Baby birthday: time to consider some improv wisdom! On the 4th anniversary of Monster Baby’s first episode, Lisa and Ted celebrate by going through a recent blog post from their mentor, Patricia Ryan Madson. They start with the obligatory COVID check-in—we are going through a world-changing pandemic after all (2:10). Lisa makes reference to some help she got from Brené Brown’s image of “settling the ball” (7:11) and Ted mentions a great micro-blessing image he got from a business school classmate (11:02). They get into Ryan Madson’s take on Robert Poynton’s three principles of improv, starting with “Let go.” (13:36) After considering Principle #2, “Appreciate more” (20:51), Lisa makes sure to distinguish between gratitude and the Tyranny of Positive Thinking (23:43). Principle #3 suggests we “Use everything” and Lisa wonders about using the mysterious leftovers in her freezer (30:31). The pair offers a few wrap-up thoughts, including the value of breaking patterns (35:44) and they close it out with some final anniversary blessings and gratitudes (39:26). It’s a short-and-sweet episode—we hope you like it! If there’s something in the episode that brings you particular joy—or raises a question—feel free to write us at [email protected]. To subscribe so you receive immediate notice of future Monster Baby releases, head over to: http://monsterbabypodcast.com. And lastly, if you’re needing some inspiring Monster-Baby based words to get you through these tough times, order a copy of Ted’s Monster-Baby-inspired book, Playful Mindfulness from www.playfulmindfulness.info. (Ted will surely sign it for you if you like!)