Day three of CRV training with Paul H. Smith and Angela Thompson Smith (Wednesday, Dec. 6).
Today was an intense day. After getting our homework turned in and graded, we went right into stage one sessions. I had never worked with a monitor before and found it incredibly useful.
The space that Paul and Angela created, and the immediate, non-judgmental, one-on-one tips and corrections were invaluable. For the first time I was not upset when I missed the target.
The fact that it was okay to miss and the various “tricks” the monitors used to get us through the situation was liberating. It just created a mental freedom to relax, slow down, and find the solution. They stayed with us until we got it right and that felt really, really good to see it through to end on a success.
We had our first field trip today. We simply went out in the middle of nowhere and stood silently letting our senses fill up with no analysis. Then we took turns describing the environment to each other without using nouns. Until you try it, it is hard to realize how much we depend on labeling things instead of experiencing them. A powerful lesson!
We ended the day with our STAGE II lecture and homework assignments. Tomorrow we begin Stage II sessions.
(Paul was the photographer today)
