Thursday – Real Talk

Improvisation: Gift or Survival Skill?

Some people freeze when something goes wrong.

Some people panic.

Some people need a full instruction manual and three meetings before they move.

And then there are people who immediately think:

What’s the end goal?

What’s missing?

What can I control right now?

What’s my next best step?

I’m that second type.

Improvisation comes naturally to me.

But if I’m honest? I don’t think it started as a “gift.”

I think it started as survival.

When you’ve worked in domestic violence shelters, you don’t have time to freeze.

When you’ve worked a crisis line, you don’t get to say, “Hold on, let me think.”

When money is short and work hours are cut, you don’t get dramatic. You get creative.

You figure it out.

I’ve improvised in parking lots.

I’ve improvised in grocery stores.

I’ve improvised in workplaces.

I’ve improvised in seasons where I didn’t know what tomorrow was going to look like.

You learn to look at a situation and think:

Okay. What’s the final result I need?

What steps get me there?

What do I not have?

What can I use instead?

That’s not chaos.

That’s controlled adaptability.

Improvisation isn’t reckless.

It’s resourceful.

It’s rolling up a blanket and turning it into a windshield cover.

It’s stretching a dollar without losing dignity.

It’s calming a frustrated patient while mapping out the next authorization step in your head.

It’s telling someone, “Take a breath. We’ll work this out,” and meaning it.

Some people call that being strong.

I call it being steady.

Because when you’ve lived through enough hard seasons, your brain learns not to spiral — it learns to shift.

And shifting is power.

So here’s the Real Talk question:

When something unexpected happens in your life…

Do you freeze?

Or do you pivot?

And if you pivot — did it come from comfort?

Or did it come from necessity?

For me, it came from necessity.

But now? It feels like a gift.

And I wouldn’t trade that skill for anything.

— Lady Flava