We had another skype session Sunday. The morning session discussed analysis, and then we put together a definition for it. I hear the evening session discussed creativity, which sounds really fascinating! I'm going a bit meta here and analyzing the skypes themselves rather than analysis itself.
It's been quite interesting these last two sessions, as I've always been a part of the evening (UK time) sessions. Now due to scheduling I'm participating in the morning ones (aka middle of the night my time). It's been great to talk to people I didn't get a chance to before, but I also really miss talking to those who usually attend the evening sessions. The feeling is really different between the two skypes. There are usually lots of people on the evening call and hardly any in the morning. Before I rarely got a word in edgewise, and now I'm doing a significant portion of the talking. It seems like the golden amount of people is in that 5-7 range. If it's fewer, the discussion gets pressed into a specific concept and loses the lovely bouncing around of ideas that the bigger sessions have. But the bigger sessions, when too big, there just isn't enough time for everyone to speak.
I would love to return to everyone bringing their own conversation topic and probing deeper into those; I really miss that from the big sessions. But it would also be a really interesting experiment if instead of molding the conversation into something specific, we students picked one concept out of what we bring and just ran with it. Once people get really into the discussion, they tend to keep it going, but if it gets redirected, sometimes the conversation stalls out. That carries its own risks, but it might be interesting to see what happens.
I'd love to hear everyone else's thoughts. Have you switched back and forth between evening and morning? If so, what differences have you noticed?
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Monday, November 5, 2018
Communicating Tangled Thoughts
Yesterday I was part of the earlier skype session, and there were only three of us students (Elissavet, Katya, and I) on there, which allowed for a much more detailed discussion than is normally possible! We started out as normal, discussing a miscellaneous thought or two, and then quickly moving into talking about our various modules--our research for Elissavet and I, and the most recent AOL for Katya. We all summarized our work, some more succinctly than others (aka, well done Elissavet and Katya, not so much me), and then got summaries and/or questions from the other two as to what was heard.
I found it quite interesting to attempt to summarize everything succinctly and clearly for several reasons. Attempt being the key word, as I don't think I succeeded. The first reason was obvious to me--I'm not a morning person, and I don't do well thinking in academic language at 4 in the morning! Another is that I've spent so much time recently figuring out how to explain things in the most basic, pared down language for quick conversations with those who aren't particularly interested in the academic minutiae of it all. That's been really fun to figure out, actually. It's made me think about what the absolute core of my inquiry is and how to express that in very plain language that's accessible to those not in my field (or who are very young). It was odd, though valuable, to switch back into academic minutiae.
But the other reason I spent some time thinking about yesterday, and I think it comes down to me struggling to express things verbally if I haven't written them down yet. I noticed the two areas I've written down in the draft thus far were the two areas I unintentionally focused on; the areas I haven't yet begun writing I found very hard to synthesize on the spot. For some reason, I'm having a very difficult time doing my analysis this time around unless I make myself write it out and form the sentences and paragraphs while I'm thinking. I've always been much better at written than oral communication, but this is another level.
It feels backward; shouldn't I have something to say before I say it? But that's not the process this time, and my thoughts are feeling very tangled. How does one communicate clearly when the thoughts behind the communication are not yet clear? It's one thing when you're in a 1-on-1 conversation with a friend or a colleague and they know you're processing verbally while you're talking to them. It's another thing, an embarrassing thing, when you need to have it all just so and instead the thoughts come out like spaghetti because they are, in fact, just like spaghetti.
I can only hope I can get them untangled in this weird, backward process of writing-analyzing-writing-analyzing soon. I would really love to hear others' thoughts on all this... do you find writing or speaking easier? Which helps you to untangle your thoughts better? And how have you worked at getting better at the harder one (because I'm totally stealing your tips, if you have any to offer)?
I found it quite interesting to attempt to summarize everything succinctly and clearly for several reasons. Attempt being the key word, as I don't think I succeeded. The first reason was obvious to me--I'm not a morning person, and I don't do well thinking in academic language at 4 in the morning! Another is that I've spent so much time recently figuring out how to explain things in the most basic, pared down language for quick conversations with those who aren't particularly interested in the academic minutiae of it all. That's been really fun to figure out, actually. It's made me think about what the absolute core of my inquiry is and how to express that in very plain language that's accessible to those not in my field (or who are very young). It was odd, though valuable, to switch back into academic minutiae.
But the other reason I spent some time thinking about yesterday, and I think it comes down to me struggling to express things verbally if I haven't written them down yet. I noticed the two areas I've written down in the draft thus far were the two areas I unintentionally focused on; the areas I haven't yet begun writing I found very hard to synthesize on the spot. For some reason, I'm having a very difficult time doing my analysis this time around unless I make myself write it out and form the sentences and paragraphs while I'm thinking. I've always been much better at written than oral communication, but this is another level.
It feels backward; shouldn't I have something to say before I say it? But that's not the process this time, and my thoughts are feeling very tangled. How does one communicate clearly when the thoughts behind the communication are not yet clear? It's one thing when you're in a 1-on-1 conversation with a friend or a colleague and they know you're processing verbally while you're talking to them. It's another thing, an embarrassing thing, when you need to have it all just so and instead the thoughts come out like spaghetti because they are, in fact, just like spaghetti.
I can only hope I can get them untangled in this weird, backward process of writing-analyzing-writing-analyzing soon. I would really love to hear others' thoughts on all this... do you find writing or speaking easier? Which helps you to untangle your thoughts better? And how have you worked at getting better at the harder one (because I'm totally stealing your tips, if you have any to offer)?
Thursday, November 1, 2018
Contact Improv
It had been ages since I'd gone to a jam, and then this summer I went on tour with my old dance collective and got to do some CI. I used to not really get it, but I've changed a bit since freshman year (!!) and now really love it. Thank goodness for the tour reminding me of that! So I fished around online and found a semi-local group that offers biweekly jams, and I've started going.
I'm totally hooked. I'd be up there every day if I could. There's something special about the feeling one gets when one is totally nonverbal and listening physically rather than aurally. The intimacy that just dancing and exploring together creates is not like anything else I've ever experienced. Touch, trust, dance, it's like the perfect combination. I'm going again on Sunday and bringing a fellow dancer this time, plus I've introduced it to two different (other) people in the last few months. I'm doing my best to spread the word, ha!
Anyone want to share their own experiences with contact improv? Love it? Hate it?
I'm totally hooked. I'd be up there every day if I could. There's something special about the feeling one gets when one is totally nonverbal and listening physically rather than aurally. The intimacy that just dancing and exploring together creates is not like anything else I've ever experienced. Touch, trust, dance, it's like the perfect combination. I'm going again on Sunday and bringing a fellow dancer this time, plus I've introduced it to two different (other) people in the last few months. I'm doing my best to spread the word, ha!
Anyone want to share their own experiences with contact improv? Love it? Hate it?
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