How many names did you learn?
It helped me learn the names more quickly than I would have learned had I had to go around individually meeting the people. However, it did focus on learning the individual names, and I generally remember characteristics or interesting facts about a person better than I can remember the names. (I can usually tell what town someone is from but I have amazing difficulty picking out their name.) This game did help me to learn names quickly, thought because it focused upon the inherent need to learn the names instead of general association. Also, because of the focus on learning the names, I was able to learn more names than I would have normally. Unfortunately, I tended to match the name with the location the person was standing in, thus when the group was rearranged and I had to introduce them, I had trouble getting all the names down. I got most of the different names right, but I matched them with the wrong person. Luckily, missing someone's name, usually had a strong negative feedback in my mind, thus enabling the name to stick more strongly. Eventually I learned about 10 different names.
TRUST WALK:
My partner made me feel comfortable OR uncomfortable by...
I felt very comfortable working with my partner. Before going on the walk, we worked out 'tapping' signals to enable him to communicate what lied in the obstacle ahead. When we started out on the walk, he carefully led me along. I felt comfortable walking at a decent pace. He would keep me away from danger. When we reached the first obstacle, he gave the signal, and helped me to move my foot over it. He also gave signals at team when we didn't reach actual 'obstacles', but instead faced a small stump or something of that nature that might create minor discomfort. When we reached more difficult obstacles he ushered my arm out front so that I was able to feel the obstacle and would become familiar with it before I attempted to cross it. He also went over the obstacles with me and helped to feel very safe in all we did.
HUMAN KNOT:
Was there a directive leader or was it definitely a group effort?
There was no directed leader. The group worked together sometimes in small groups to help unwind the individual sections. When we reached sections that involved a great number of people, someone who saw the answer would announce it and the group would follow if it saw that it was proper, otherwise someone else would offer their solution.
When was a variety of input an advantage and when was it a disadvantage?
In the early stages of the game, it was both an advantage and a disadvantage. Having a great amount of people enabled us to carry out the activity in a speedily fashion. However, sometimes the speed resulted in bigger problems than what we started out with. Thus, it proved to be a disadvantage. In the later stages of the game, it was more helpful to have a great deal of input. Everyone could see the problem, and help to find a solution. However, sometimes the solution turned out to be more of a problem. But, usually, due to the large number of minds analyzing it, it turned out the be successful. Thus, due to the different sensual perceptions that they have grown up with and been exposed to, they are able to think using different thought processes that enable them to solve aspects of a problem that others are unable to.
BEAN BAG TOSS II:
This time, I still had trouble remembering people's names. However, the second time, when I missed Shane's name, I was able to recall it better because of the strong negative feedback. I still had difficulty with the names, and often would through to just a few sets of people, because I knew their names. Gradually I was able to feel confident with a few more names and expanded my throwing horizons.
TRUST FALL:
Was trust strengthened within your group during this activity?
Yes. We all felt safe jumping into the arms of the group. Very few people felt fear falling....
How do past experiences effect are ability to trust?
Past fear resulting from lack of trustworthiness of people have a negative impact on our ability to trust in new situations. Thus, since everyone was safely caught, the group felt safe. Also, it's like normal diving. Since I had to get stitches a couple of times from diving into kiddy pools of lawn chairs, I have a deep seeded distrust of the pool 'catching' me and preventing me from injury when I do a major head first dive.
Did you experience fear or joy or both? Why?
Primarily fear, it looked like a fun thing to do, and kind of resembled being passed over a crowd at a cool concert. However, I did feel some fear right as I fell, because there is always that little bit of fear in falling. I also like to fall and catch myself at the last minute possible, so it was a great experience to be able to fall, and not have to catch myself at all. Thus it was a fulfillment of a past goal.
What did you learn from this experience?
I learned to trust other people in the group with my dear life, even when it looks like they lack the ability to trust. Also, working together, with many people, the burden of supporting one filler becomes much lighter than it would be if everyone had to work individually. (This reminds me of an extremely popular quote, but I'll pass with it.)
FLOATING:
This was fun to me because...
OR
This was NOT fun to me because...
This activity was fun because it was a new experience, created a state of alternate reality. (Hey, I was 'high'!) Due to the fact that I had my eyes shut, I could not tell where I was, thus I may have been a million miles up in the air or close to the ground. Eventually, when I reached lower 'altitudes', I could sense the location of people's arms thus enabling me to realize that I was close to the ground. The landing was gentle, and I didn't get muddy even though the ground was awfully horrid looking. The people 'carrying' me, were faithful in their activities making it a highly enjoyable experience.
BALANCE BROOM:
Did the athletic type of people have an advantage in this game? Why or why not?
No, they didn't appear to have an advantage. About the only thing noticeable about the athletic people was a tendency to start out slower. This might have been as a result of previous skills coordination which trained them to gradually pick up new skills. However, once they did have the ability to reach higher speeds than the non-athletes, but this probably never came into play due to the slow speeds carried out. Another factor to analyze would be the increased blood circulation efficiency of the athletic types. This could enable the blood to quickly get away from the same side of the brain where it was forced to due to the continual spinning. Unfortunately, the recovery time took place after the completion of the activity, thus during the activity they had not apparent advantage.
Did you feel secure with your group of spotters?
Why or why not?
Yes. They were able to prevent me from falling, constantly gave little pushes when the danger was imminent. Also, the previous people to carry out the activity were well taken care of during the spotting activity, and they were trustworthy people.
LOW TENSION TRAVERSE:
Did you concentrate more on NOT FALLING or on KEEPING YOUR BALANCE? What was most distracting to you?
I alternated the various concentrations throughout the activity. At first the walking appeared quite easy, so I was able to bounce up and down and have fun with it, and didn't worry about falling at all. However, after I got out a way, I started to loose my balance and had to concentrate more on not falling. Luckily, my spotters were very helpful, and I was soon able to regain my balance, and felt little fear in actually falling of the rope, and could concentrate instead on keeping my balance on the rope. I easily got distracted on the easy portion of the rope. Once it started to get harder, I had to concentrate more on the crossing. Also, the last part where the rope was attached to a tree that I was going towards. It was difficult to make it back to the other end while I was doing that.
WILD WOOSEY:
The main problem that my partner and I had was...
The first time, my partner and I weren't exactly sure what we were supposed to do, because we were unable to witness another group doing it before us. We failed to put enough pressure on each other as we were trying to traverse the rope. We had difficulty at the start because we were too close together to get a grip to move. Instead of grasping the tree at the initial location, we moved out a little and used our spotters to allow us to get on to the rope. Then as we moved further out, we failed to keep our bodies straight, and thus were unable to finish the traverse. The next time, (with a different partner) we were able to support each other and made it to the end of the rope due to the using of proper procedures that helped us out and gave us support on all aspects of the game.
SWINGING LOG:
The thing that helped me the most in keeping my balance was...
Dude, I wish was able to keep my balance all the way through this one. I seemed to fall off after every couple of steps. My spotters, were helpful, however, as I gradually moved across the log, and helped give me faith that I could make it. The log, however, was slippery, thus contributing to my inability to make it across. Also, the fact that I was unable to keep balance may be attributed to a number of factors, including just a simple inability to keep balance. Also, my ear has been hurting me recently, and I seemed to gash open something or another in the previous station, thus the inner ear might have been causing some imbalance problems. Thus I have a great number of excuses for my ineptitude. I guess I should just try to practice it at other times to keep my balance.
I (did or did not) feel very dependent upon my spotters because...
I didn't feel the absolute need to feel dependent on my spotters because I had a tendency to run right off the log when I took off, and thus I didn't need to receive help from my spotters. I feel tired now, and did earlier today when I did this activity thus any pronounced fears in the activity were probably nullified by my sleep-lacking state of mind. At times when I did get going at a decent pace, I felt slightly dependent on my spotters to keep me on the proper course though. However, I tried to carry out the activity to the best of my ability without focusing on the helpfulness of the spotters.
FIDGET LADDER:
The thing that challenged me the most about this was...
I had trouble doing this activity because the ladder tended to rotate a little bit. I wasn't exactly sure what exactly what I was supposed to do, so I tried to move my legs forward in too big of jumps, leaving my other part of my body in a state of imbalance. Once I got the 'hang' of it the first time, I made a stupid mistake and blew it, and flipped over. Luckily my spotters were right there to help keep my from falling too hard. The next time I did it it was much easier, and at first I first went up at a slow controlled pace making sure to do everything right. Once I got near the top, time was called, and I had to race back up to the top in order to finish. Because I was going so fast, I was able to safely and accurately complete the activity, and had to jump off.