Thumbs
We have a practice in Dacha Theatre Company at the end of every rehearsal that we call “thumbs.” We form a circle and everyone sticks out a hand and puts up a thumb. Someone begins by selecting another person in the circle and paying them a compliment. It could be something they did in rehearsal, on a break, or it could be a compliment about who they are as a person. The one selected puts their thumb down and then acknowledges someone else for something they did or something they are. The process goes on until all the thumbs are down. It’s a beautiful thing. It can be hard to accept compliments, acknowledgements, praise of any kind. We often feel that whatever we have done, we just barely managed it, or it happened by accident, or luck, or it was really nothing, or we inherited that trait from a parent and can’t claim any credit for it – or a thousand things. At least that’s how I feel, most of the time. But none of that is necessarily true. It’s been said that we creat