Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 27 seconds
Today, I participated in a #MYFest22 session led by Tony Carr and Irene Maweu of emerge Africa. It was an emergent session, not in our initial plans. They said it would be a twist on the Liberating Structure, Ecocycle planning. And oh, what a twist it was!
I want to reflect on the affordances of virtual vulnerability they created space for. I cannot imagine this session in person, as a participant or as a facilitator, and I’ll explain why.
First of all, the session included some really beautiful musical choices to help us think about what we want to grow and what we need to let go. Time was dedicated to inviting us to listen to the music and dance or move however we felt comfortable. I felt like the option to do so with our cameras off was key. Key for people who may not be comfortable dancing in front of others, or those who are differently able or have limited mobility. It felt great, because of course dancing when nobody is watching is one of the biggest joys in life. And I say this as someone who dances in public, but of course I dance SO MUCH more passionately when alone. So thank you for that space.
We were then given time for drawing our answers to the prompt, rather than writing it. For the letting go prompt, they gave a sunset metaphor that hit home for me, and I got so emotional I spent the entire 7 minutes listening to the “Time to Say Goodbye” song bawling and texting Mia and Rissa about how sad I was that MYFest was ending. I understood from the sharing out that others also got emotional and cried. And I wonder if our cameras were on, if we were in one physical space, all seeing each other, would we have felt free to be vulnerable?
This was one session I would love to replicate with my students and our faculty locally, but I cannot imagine doing it comfortably in person. The virtual afforded us space to be vulnerable safely, freedom to share as little or as much of our joy and pain as we wished. And I am so grateful for the ebb and flow of this session. Highs and a gentle way to accept and face our lows and ending on a high note still. I felt raw, but in a good way. Energized and relieved and open.
I loved every minute today. Even the final reflection questions were neatly displayed on columns on a padlet and were really lovely. What did you enjoy? What annoyed/angered you? What surprised you? What did you discover?
I will use these in class and in workshops. What did you DISCOVER. Such a lovely word, different from just learning, you know?
Featured image found through WordPress App free picture library. I was in a hurry but it was perfect. I wanted dancing, black figures at sunset.