Paper Towers Make Good Rallying Cries

It's only been a couple weeks but it felt like forever that I was feeling like the odd man out. Suffice to say I think the group is gelling or Norming as I called it last.

How was it done?
I don't much think anything special happened. As individuals we reached out and tried to include each other. We spoke. Time passed. I'm sorry to say there was no key thing, no magic moment when the group clicked because it would be much more satisfying to say such a thing. I'd love to be able to copy and paste the formula in my other interactions with strangers.
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Well maybe there was one activity... when making paper towers there are a few things to consider before you make the first fold:

* the structural integrity of the paper
* the presence of adhesive or lack thereof
* the environment in which the tower is to be erected
* expected lifespan and load bearing capabilities of the tower






Or two... when writing group rallying cries there are some dos and donts to follow:
✔️ Do choose a catchy military tune that everyone knows
✖️ Don't choose a niche theme song from the 70s (even though The Brady Bunch is a staple and everyone who isn't a fan should be ashamed!)
✔️ Do keep it simple, stupid
✖️ Don't make it too long and convoluted
✔️ Do involve each member in the process
✖️ Don't do it all yourself and expect everyone to be on board with it
✔️ Do include jibes at opposing teams
✖️ Don't listen when everyone reminds you its not a competition when everyone is doing community service
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It seems I failed utterly at passivity and instead ended up doubling down on my authentic self; knocking everyone over the head with my truth until they got the point that I'm hilarious. Now they laugh when I make puns which is basically all I do every time I open my mouth.

I love Agendas; they keep you on target, they're organized, they show progress I mean I've got to say they more than make my day -- they make my meeting.

Leadership and Stages of Team Development

Recently I was introduced to Tuckman's Model and, because its not everyday that I learn something new, this was exciting. It really registered with me because I was at the time Forming a new group; meeting new people who I'll have to work with in order to complete a task. Yay! (And incidentally I don't mean that sarcastically or ironically.) I like the concept of not having to complete a task on my own, I like the concept of getting multiple ideas that I didn't have to come up with on my own and I like the concept of completed tasks.

So my autocratic inclinations aside, in this modern western world a successful group tends to be ruled by such lofty principles as "the democratic process". This brings me to brain-Storming ideas; just throwing all the ideas that each person comes up with in a pool and swirling around the equally weighted opinions/options/ideas. Then we ponder over pool and the popular vote wins (is it too soon to make that reference? because man did this not work out for my team! Hello electoral college!)

Fortunately I think flexibility is a most important skill in groups. I'm now trying a thing called Norming through passivity. Essentially I'm observing personalities and aggressively avoiding conflicts through silence and obedience. I'm going to be that person everyone (read: no one) wants in a group, that silent one who just does what they're told.

High hopes that this will lead to our group Performing exceptionally well at the task then Adjourning with a new understanding of what it means to develop and work as a group.
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In any case today while living my best millennial life, I came across the following video (without even searching for it, its like the universe wanted to reinforce these concepts for me) that only slightly better explained Tuckman's Stages of Team Development. 

And It worked out fine for this guy so I'm very optimistic about my chances.

Quick side note: It is most important to establish group roles and rules early on so that cohesiveness and task completion are prioritized.

You are the One on a Plane that Crashed

When I think of leadership theory I think I would describe myself as an autocrat. I do not enjoy sharing responsibility or being delegated to. I have been known to say "there is no I in team but there is a Me". The universe, of course, does not care about my leadership style and though I do not join teams wherein I cannot wrest away power -- the universe often sees fit to institute me as a cog in machines.

Do you know what it is like to be a task-oriented person in a people-oriented group? All that

sharing and feelings and opinions and not as much actual work? Its frustrating.
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Recently I was asked to give my opinion -- never ask for my opinion -- on a presentation by Alvin Day.

The contrarian within me simply would not sit still and so I had to eschew his philosophy self-love ≠ selfish. My myopic argument was that the relationships I make are more valuable than the potential help that I could give to strangers. My argument was that I value the lives of my loved ones not as much as I value my own, but more. My argument was that my opinion is valid as soon as it is soundly defended whether you are in agreement or not.
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You know if indeed that plane had crashed and I had happened to be on it without any vulnerable creatures beside me I may well have lived. So off my brain went in imagining my own "Lost" premier episode. Before I get off  that plane I'm scavenging: a rucksack stuffed with bottled water, first aid kit, sensible clothes, swim cap, torch, rope, blanket, food, knife, and a radio/phone. You know, the essentials.

Jokes aside (yes those were jokes) I rather like the idea of being proved wrong.
The idea that people-y people can also make productive groups...

Between Them Two

She'd been grounding herself, he noticed.

Slowly adding pieces to her skin. First it was a ring, then there was an earring.  One day he woke up and noticed.  The pieces were there to stay.  They'd taken up permanent residence and were never removed.  They were like her skeleton moving without, like it wasn't just the soft inner organs that needed protection any more.

She was electricity.

The very important parts aren't skin and bones, not muscles or fats, nor any of the liquids.  All of those things are disposable; destructible. The really important part is energy, is essence and that is what she'd been grounding.

He'd been watching her, she noticed.

His eyes would follow her moves but not like a casual viewer.  Like a scientist with an experiment.  He'd been watching as though each  action was fascinating, or telling.  When she caught his eyes he'd smile and look away.  As though he'd done nothing that would require an explanation.

He was comfortable.

He was stretching; his limbs were no more contained to polite spaces, his opinions were given freely with no need for solicitation.  His expressions became true and honest, angry and sad, and perplexed, and fearful, and apathetic.  They were all there to be seen clear as midday.

She was as a tree sending roots of twisted metal deep into the Earth.  She was insulating and, months after he noticed, he shared his finding with her.  Her response was that he was shading.  Like a child filling in shapes or an artist highlighting the lack of light or a tree extending leafy branches.  They agreed to disagree with each others summation.  They both thought the other spoke truth.

Photo courtesy of Cosmopolitan

Though...

More true was that she felt fragile, thin, and weightless.  As though the metaphysical things about her needed to be made real.  And until such moment the bits of metal would keep her around.

More true was that in her he found answers.  The questions he'd been mulling over all his life were no more.  The lost time and all that had escaped his wisdom was right there between them two.

Preamble ~ Understanding Process

 I was involved in the production of a student film; in fact it was merely a short.  As a favour to a friend in need I took a day out of my Spring frolicking and dedicated it to assisting her to graduate University.  Perhaps I should not have done what I did but water under the bridge.  Sometime after, I felt the desire to document the experience -- I did not.  Here and now I will:

10 hours
8 characters
6 scenes
4 sets
2 acts
1 script and I am suddenly reminded of why I am not a Television Production major.

*

2 Cameramen/ Gaffers,
1 Audio Technician/ Boom Extender,
every hand is Grip, every person is Producer/ Director.
Each scene shot 5 times from different lengths and angles,
motion ongoing with every nuanced action repeated for Continuity sake

*

At the end of it all?

A 15 minute production I have yet not seen for all the frustration and tiredness it'd bring to what was just supposed to be a couple hours (two hours, less even!) of helping out a friend.

***

Why do I choose now to document this?  Why dwell on this thing that has happened and gone?  I suppose I am reminding myself of what I dislike and the reasons for said dislike because in the past month or so I have decided I will be wetting my toes in the waters of Video Production.  Some people never learn.  I'm now well into the Pre-production phase with my vision of the final product.  If thoughts could be communicated without going through the noisy, distracting channel of words (spoken or written) then I would share my projection.  I'm almost certain that as with all things in life this vision will not become tangible; it will not be the way I want it to be because life is like a toolbox of wrenches when all you want is a screw.

I say all that to say only this: I'll be attempting this project and I will document it here in a kind of behind-the-scenes Director's manual.

*insert optimistically dire statement here*
Best wishes, happy hunting, may the odds be ever in favour et al.

Alas delusions of grandeur compel me to do this thing.  For others to look back and marvel at.  For the sake of understanding process.

Action Poetry (Part 2/2)

In a previous post you were introduced to the basics of writing performance poetry and saw some good examples of this artform. Today we will go further into details of getting into this field and further succeeding!

So you have a passion for the art or you're a poet who written lots, how do you get better and more well known?  The answer to this question is style, substance and support.  These three have the potential to take you from relative unknown to having a fan club started in your honour.

Photo courtesy of HubPages.com

Style

This refers to how you write.  The arrangement of your lines.  In performance, the art of poetry must be modified for the EAR because the audience is NOT meant to SEE the script.  This gives some about of latitude for the use of assonance and other phonetic literary tools.  The aim is to have your audience be able to follow the story you are telling so don't be too technical.
NB: Be sure to practice your delivery before performance.  It would be ideal for you to memorize your poem so that you could use your whole body and eyes to convey the message to your audience.

Photo courtesy of Inbound Sales Network

Substance

In order to grab the attention of the masses you must talk about something that will resonate with a large cross-section of people or even a niche market.  It is important to know who you are performing to so you can choose appropriate poems and deliveries.  Also, current topics and topics about which you are passionate will likely reflect in favour of your performance.  While you do not want to be too technical and lose your audience, it is important that your content be something that won't easily be forgotten.




Support

Photo courtesy of Apperson

Get out and perform.  How will your work be known if you keep it to yourself?  Find a Open Mic club in your area, or make time to go the distance to those far away maybe once a month, or make YouTube videos of yourself performing.  Do all that you can to put yourself and your work out there.  It is likely your art will benefit from your exposure to others in the field and you will find inspiration.  Another thing you will find are poets to collaborate with.  Find good poets who could compliment your style and substance then make connections; write and perform poems together.

All the great performance poets have these three things in common.  Along with writing ability and passion for the artform; they know they are writing for an audience to hear, they produce memorable content and they all put themselves in the spotlight.

Hopefully you will put these tips to good use 

May the snaps and cheers come ringing through 

At the end of each poem that you perform

So fame will pour down, on you like a storm. 

... withShantelleS

Action Poetry

In the most recent posts, I took a turn at writing poems.  They didn't all rhyme and they weren't all readily understandable.  But! after reading them a dozen times maybe with a dictionary/ thesaurus you figure them out or at the very least get the gist of the message.  They were all in fulfilment of a class assignment but they were also due to a recent surge in interest I have had in this genre of writing and speech delivery.  Today's post will be on Performance Poetry.

Photo of Sarah Kay, Spoken Word Poet
TED Conference (Voted 2011 Best TED Presentation)

Poetry is ...
                  /ˈpəʊɪtri/ literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; a genre of literature.
This is our working definition.  Many things to many people; anyone can conjure up their own definition for poetry but here we will stick to Oxford's.




Performance Poetry is written not for print or reading but to be seen and heard.  The art form has many names: Spoken Word, Stand Up, Dub, Slam; to-may-to/to-mah-to. I will first introduce you to the work of Taylor Mali to open your mind to the wonder of poetry.  This video, "What Teachers Make", is an interpretation of Taylor Mali's poem performed by actors.  Therefore this is a merger between poetry and acting.

 

A teacher by profession and Page Meets Stage Curator, Taylor has dealt with the situations he describes in this poem.  These are his opinions, this is his burden that he has put to writ and transferred to stage.  In a previous post I tackled the topic of what to write.  While I won't tell anyone what to write I mentioned some of the features of what is considered 'good' literature.  Passion, Plot development, Literary value.  Tell the story that you care about, keep your reader/listener on the edge of the seat and fearlessly use the literary tools that you have.

The next poem is "The Truth Without Photoshop" by P4CM poet Janette...ikz needs no introduction but be warned it will likely draw on your emotions.

The words spoken by Janette...ikz here is truth.  This is her story unapologetically, creatively, hers.  This video shows performance poetry in the manner that it is most often seen; done by the original author, to an audience and without props.

These pieces differ in content and presentation yet are common in that they are poetry in action.  Follow up on these artists and enjoy the world of performance poetry.

...withShantelleS