Wednesday, February 16, 2011

What I Wanna Know

I want to learn about the connections between recreation and third world countries. If Maslow is right, people in poor countries can't recreate until their basic needs are met, but maybe recreation helps fulfill certain needs overlooked by Maslow.
I'm not sure how to word the question, but maybe it is something like this:
How does recreation exist in poverty?

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Fear Factors

Edgework is really fascinating. Anytime we start exploring something new we can push back the boundaries of the unknown, unpredictable, etc. I have always loved the feeling of doing something for the first time. When I started wakeboarding I was terrified. Everyone else on the boat was great at it, but I would faceplant regularly and the driver would spend more time getting me the rope again than I would on top of the water. It was frustrating!
Another example is when I started having to speak Spanish to live. That was a very anxious time and I was afraid that people would ask me questions because usually I wouldn't understand what they wanted to know. I hated feeling vulnerable and knowing that if I answered wrong or said something silly, they would laugh. Usually I'm pretty good at laughing at myself, but it is still very uncomfortable sometimes.
The part that really stuck out to me in this part is what is written about fears. I truly believe that the only way to get over something is to face it. It's hard, but when you do it, you look back and think "well, yeah, that's how it should happen!" and it doesn't remain an issue.
I can speak Spanish now. It's not that big of a deal. And learning another language doesn't scare me, because I've already been through the process and I know I can do it.
Edgework really does empower. My self-esteem is rising as I discover that I understand this theory. How's that for experiential?!

Educators, trainers, therapists and Buddha

"Nothing is more relevant to us than ourselves"

Let me narrate the experiential learning I had while I read the introduction and first part of Processing the Experience. I was reading along like normal, I had to re-read a few lines to understand. Then I got to this quote:

"In the experience lies the heartbeat and life potential" and it stood out to me. I felt that experience really has and does and will form who I am and who I become. Awesome. Then the reading went in to a description about learning. This made me flashback to a book I recently read called Siddhartha by Herman Hesse that I REALLY liked. This is the quote that really stuck with me after I finished reading it last month:

"Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal. You, O worthy one, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under your nose" (Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse).

So what? Clearly, I believe in constructivism. What we read made me think of a lot of past experiences that I have had as I've read, learned, discussed, listened and experimented with learning and Buddhism.

That is my philosophy on education. Learning doesn't mean you have to sit in an uncomfortable chair, take useless notes and accept that the person flipping through the powerpoint slides is smarter than you are. I've learned more on softball teams, in marching band, camping with my family, traveling through Africa and living in Chile than I have in my collective "formal education".

Now what? Let's move closer to Nirvana/experiencing and understanding and becoming more. I've got to keep absorbing. Each day brings millions of new opportunities to add to my constructivism. Seeking is not bad, but finding is much more effective. Allowing myself to experience more will make me a more whole person.