Safe space
I felt safe enough to try out everything I wanted, with no fear of being “judged”. Both teachers and fellow students treated me as an equal peer.
1: I do not agree at all / 10: I agree completely
Comments
It is rarely that one could be in such thriving environment. Big compliment to Tom Stone for creating this special atmosfeere.
Absolutely. I felt very safe to do so.
Yes
This is one of the more amazing skills of the tutors. I was, in all honesty, a bit nervous about this particular topic. Going in to a workshop like this it is easy to think of yourself as an imposter, where everyone else knows much more. And we were all different, with different backgrounds and different skill sets. However, never during the course that was a problem, thanks to the design of the exercises and the guidance from the tutors.
Because of my age, I’m used to being treated as a kid who doesn’t know anything. The environment was safe but the fear of being judged just because of the age is always with me. However, no one judged me! I’m super thankful for that!
Yes, because of the safe atmosphere, I felt I could take risks that I might not traditionally take when performing for other magicians or audiences. Also I always felt my peers treated me as an equal.
This was actually maybe the most surprising finding. Because these kind of exercises put you to very uncomfortable situations, and this kind of safety is so important. In the “real world” I would have never done half the things I did during the course. And I even had fun doing it during the course! Of course it is still sometimes difficult to get out of your own self-evaluating negative thoughts during or after the exercises, but that is not at all because of other people who attended or course instructors. The positive attitude of everyone and the other attendees doing the same kind of difficult stuff encouraged at least me a lot. I think if I got anything out of the course it is that I have huge amounts of more courage to just try things, and fail.
This was so nice. We could fail, break character or make mistakes. It did not matter.
Yes completely in the workshops. By teachers and my colleagues. One hundred percent.
However, this might be the best place to write this experience. On the last day when we showcased our “final pieces” the course instructor instructed everyone to give “written” feedback.
Sadly I was cornered into recieving feedback verbally by another student. To which I felt obliged to say yes. Upon hearing the feedback – which I felt had nothing to do with my performance but rather a personal opinion of there’s as to what I should perhaps wear relating to “high heels” – it felt really weird and sort of inappropriate.
This was handled by the tutors and I got a full apology.
I do believe that the subject of giving verbal feedback – at least on the final project – should be emphasised to be given in written commentary and not verbal. The above example is evidence of that.
Also perhaps there does need to be something said by the tutors at the very beginning of the week to explain how to give feedback, how to talk appropriately to and treat one another. I believe this happened in the first and second courses I participated in previously.
To be honest, I didn’t anticipate the admiration I received from my peers on the course. I sometimes felt a little embarrassed by the kind and encouraging words shared to me. So, yes, I certainly felt safe, (and “judged” but in a positive way!) but I hope that those on the course with less experience felt equally safe and encouraged.
Kunde inte ha varit mer sant! Toppen grupp.
Just inner thoughts might have had me doubting, but both teachers and students made pretty much all doubt vanish.
Yes, this course felt absolutely safe. I absolutely stepped out of my comfort zone many times, but I felt no personal hesitation in doing so because there was no judgement from peers or teachers. The course excels in this area.
Definitely!! Group and teachers were encouraging and I felt safe to do all the things!
Agree – I think I am not the most experienced and much of my bad moves are in my muscle memory and hard to get rid of in a short time.
A fine gesture from others I noticed when I did it bad – no one said it, but e.g. suggested “shall we change place with each other”.
Tom, Ondrej and especially Hakan are people in the magic world I admire deeply. I didn’t want to be a failure in their eyes. I would have never tried out the things on Thursday night or Friday morning if I had not been feeling safe. So 10 points for this statement.
Sure there’s a bit of anxiety some times, but overall I felt like the atmosphere was very encouraging.
ja det tycker jag men det tig en liten stund innan jag blev varm i kläderna men det berode på mig och inte på någon annan. ni gjorde mer an vad man kan vänta sig för att vi så snabbt som möjligt skulle känna sig tryg.
I loved our group!
The support of the instructors and participants is amazing. It never even crossed my mind that I will embarrass myself with sharing an idea, asking a question or doing anything unusual on stage. The course is truly a safe environment where everyone can grow.