Modules #3/#7 - "MIXING & MINGLING" - Fall 2021

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

Welcome to the Module 03 and Module 07 "Mixing & Mingling" thread! This is about getting to interact with one another as classmates, particularly about themes from the lessons and your corresponding class work if that speaks to you. Those who post their Monologue/Manifestation or Media/Memories may provide helpful prompts for discussion points. While you're welcome to mix and mingle as much as you like, each of your first three 50+ word posts you will receive 5 points. When submitting your work, please let me know if you've posted once, twice, or three (or more) times so I can confirm participation. As a fun option, you may choose to Role-Play these interactions though are not required to. If you do, please take a look at this RPGuidelines page for some helpful tips.

Silvana and Emily work together with Sindor on creating an autumnal atmosphere inside the classroom. Pumpkins and gourdes here, a variety of purplish red and golden orange leaves there. A scarecrow sits on the desk at the front.

As members begin to arrive, Sin reminds them that today is "Show and tell!" Walking over to the scarecrow, who's holding a small stuffed animal, he picks up the brown teddybear who's missing his nose and both eyes, is stained on one foot, and has a rather sizeable hole in the front of his neck.

"I'd love for each of you at some point today, in amongst any other discussion, to step to the front of the room and share something you've brought to show the group, telling us what significance it has in your life, past or present. If you wish to tie this in with your month's power, by all means."

Sitting down on the desk himself, he holds the bear in his arms while continuing to address the class. "The powers we're working with this month are Courage and Understanding. It can take a lot of courage to put oneself out there, sharing even the little details with others, yet something as simple as talking about an old childhood toy can give others a better understanding of who we are and where we've been in our lives. The experiences or relationships which have made such an impact that we remember through some of the things we might keep around in our lives."

Holding his well-loved friend up in showcase, Sindor explains "This is Boo Boo! As you can see, he's been through a lot. He actually used to have a shirt, but that was lost long ago. I remember the shirt had the logo of a local bank on it, but this little guy came to me when I was only a couple years old. I'd climbed up onto the counter where an empty container of antifreeze had been set. It wasn't in the cards for me to ignore the bright, pretty color of the liquid that had been inside, and event though there were only a few drops left my Mom turned around to discover I was tipping the bottle up and got some into my mouth before she dropped the phone in her hand (without hanging up or saying goodbye to who she was talking to), and ran over to scoop what she could out then take immediate action. Inevitably I wound up having to be flown from Maine to Boston where I'm told they pumped me full of charcoal and took care of business. Dad tells the story of remembering me looking up at him and saying 'Daddy, I'm scared.' I have a very vague memory of his parents, my Grammy and Grampy, holding my hand at one point during the stay while I toddled down a hallway, but otherwise my biggest takeaway was receiving Boo Boo from a nurse who wanted to make me feel more at ease. I named him after one of my favorite characters from Yogi Bear, but I also distinctly remember telling everyone that since I'd gotten him at a hospital it was an appropriate choice for many reasons. In any event, I've had him ever since, and he did help make me feel safer while I was afraid. Once I couldn't find him for quite a long time, and when I finally did I said to my mom, 'He must have just been hibernating!' Of all the stuffed animals I ever used to have, he's the only one who's stuck around, of course holding a very special place in my heart as well as by my bed!"

A little misty eyed at how wild the experience must have been for his himself and his family, Sin coughs, then smiles, and turns to see "Who's ready to share next? Don't worry, it can be as serious or as lighthearted as you please!"

[Prof. Will Lestrange]

Will enters the room just in time to hear Sindor's own story. At the end of the story, he turns to Sin and says "It's a good thing your mom was able to act in time to rescue you from that deceptive Muggle liquid!

Will then pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket, most of which is filled with five-pointed stars in various colours: shocking pink, bright turquoise, dark blue, yellow, white, black, and grey. The top of the paper, however, is a white strip which has two red squares near the middle.

"This paper is a bit of a Muggle trick," Will begins. "If you stare at the banner on top in just the right way, you can will the two red squares to move so that they overlap with each other. Turn your eyes down, and an image will pop out: in this case, you can see the planet Saturn complete with rings!"

"But why is this important to me, especially when I've never been to Saturn?" continues Will. "Well, it turns out that being able to perform this Muggle trick is a good way to tell whether or not your eyes are working together properly. Up until about three years ago, I was completely unable to even imagine being able to make the trick work. That was one of many ways I could tell that my visual processing was off, even if I got 'perfect scores' on normal vision tests. But one day in February of 2019, things changed. I decided to test myself on this exact image, and sure enough, Saturn popped out of the stars! That gave me the understanding that I had made real progress on the way my eyes were processing what I saw."

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

"How fascinating!" Sin, slaps a hand on the desk he's moved to sit off to the side as class members describe what they've brought to showcase. "That's very interesting to hear, and how awesome that you have a gauge to show the progress you've made. It really is too easy for us to forget or discredit all the little steps that turn into big steps that turn into life changing journeys. Good on you for putting the time into making this happen, and not only recognizing it to and for yourself, but also sharing it with us. Appreciate learning about this!"

[Prof. Will Lestrange]

"That makes sense," responds Will, "and I do remember that the therapy sessions itself were filled with games that also gave me a sense of how I was going; some were calibrated to my skill level by my therapist and others naturally adapted by becoming harder!" Turning his attention to the decor, Will has a completely separate reflection: "I love the colours of the room and the entire scene. Autumn is not my favourite season because it shows progress in the wrong direction - with the days getting colder and darker - but at least there are always great sights and delicious foods and smells to alleviate the darkness!"

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

“Absolutely! It really is such an interesting time of year.” Sin peers around at the fall colors in the room. “Autumn is one of my favorites, yet in many ways I both look forward to it and dread that it the leads to winter, which is about half of our year here in places with similar weather to New England. As much as I enjoy the cold season, I will say I’d be just as happy of it wasn’t quite so long,” he laughs.

“Your assignment was lovely also, Will. I always love hearing when something ‘clicks’ like that as far as being given the proper information or in the proper way. I’ve had many instances in my life, whether due to the lack of adequate coaching such as in this case, or due to my own misunderstanding I have been unable to grasp something. Then when someone phrases it in thus-and-such a way that I have an ‘ah-hah!’ moment, it’s so nice. That happened to me once in dance classes. We went to a workshop where someone casually gave one piece of feedback that changed my whole perspective on a note I’d heard from other teachers for years and years. When I told my primary ballet teacher at the time, she was like ‘I’ve been telling you all that for ages!!’ but I just never realize what was meant until that moment. The other instructor put it just made more sense to me finally.”

[Prof. Will Lestrange]

Taking in what he has just heard from Sindor, Will prepares to respond. "I'm wondering something from your ballet example:" he begins, "but did the change of location better prime you to understand the tip you were given in the form of feedback at the workshop?" Will continues, "I once heard a tip about problem solving that if you were struggling at understanding how to solve a problem, you could try moving around, sitting in a different position, or simply doing something to alter your perspective. The idea was that a change in your physical perspective would prime you to change your mental perspective, thereby allowing you to better understand the tools needed to solve the problem in question. I was a bit skeptical of the idea at first... until I remembered that this was exactly what happened to me one time several years years earlier!"

[Emerald Wolvenhowl]

Emerald arrives in class laden with a large tea tray. Everyone is smiling and so welcoming as She apologizes for her absence from class. She hands out a gift of hot milk chocolate and hot white chocolate with whipped cream and far more marshmallows than we can possibly eat. The Autumn scene looks so amazing and feels really cosy thanks to the other students being there.

Prof Sindor relates the story of BooBoo. "It must have been such a stressful time for your family. Thank goodness you were okay, Prof," says Emerald while others nod in agreement. She points to the bear. "...and Boo- boo is proof that one small act of kindness can remain with someone forever."

Everyone looks at each other to see whose turn it is next and so Will steps forward with his item. It looks unique and everyone seems intrigued by the paper trick. "It is great that you have something to remind you of your progress, Will, and it is amazing how something so small can be used as an indicator and have such an important connection for you."

Suddenly, an item drops out of Emerald's pocket and everyone stares at her expectantly- that must be her cue to head to the front of the class.

She holds up the item for everyone to see before passing it around the group so they can get a closer look at a young girl wearing a summer hat while picking flowers.

"I know the item doesn't look like much, particularly in comparison to Prof' s and Will's objects, but I really appreciate it because it reminds me of an act of kindness at a time when I really needed it.

I was going through a difficult time and I wasn't happy where I was living. It was a house-share, yet I felt very separate from everyone, a bit like a jigsaw piece in the wrong jigsaw box. I ended up feeling so lonely that I felt empty.

Then one afternoon, I bumped into our neighbour who had been to a crafting shop and she was telling me all about her hobby-making handmade cards. She invited me in for a cuppa and encouraged me to have a go at card-making.

She even gathered a few bits and pieces for me which she gave to me as a starter kit and that stamp was the very first item she gave me. From then on every week we had coffee and made cards for a couple of hours.

That was several years ago now but I still have the stamp. it reminds me of her kindness and the positive impact that she and card- making had on my wellbeing."

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

“Love that, Emerald!” Sin exclaims, “Thanks so much for sharing! I love that story, and can definitely see why it would hold a special place in your heart.”

In response to Will, “It was, I believe, a large part of it that a change in atmosphere helped things sink in for me! We were in a dance space I almost never had really spent time in before, working with instructors I’d never take from. Have wondered a time or two about that very thing! I think it’s incredibly helpful to be able to change up stuff like that to help when it comes to this sorta thing. It really is amazing how often something like that will be a game changer in solving the problem.”

[Emerald Wolvenhowl]

All your ideas on problem solving are great. A bit of advice I was given a long time follows along very close and similar lines to Prof's stage idea; the tip was to remember the phrase, 'an outsider looking in', and to think of a house scenario. If I was looking through someone's window to find they had the same circumstance/ situation as me, what advice would I give them or what possible solutions would I point out to them? Sometimes imagining being the outsider looking in has helped and has sometimes provided a bit of clarity too. Maybe that is because it puts a bit of distance between myself and the situation, giving a bit of space to allow solution ideas to flow.

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

“Such a great way of looking at it,” Sindor claps his hands together. “Have to concur that there really is something to taking that step outside yourself now and again to see if you can glean any information you might have otherwise overlooked.” He snickers at the thought of how many times he’s realized there was a much bigger picture to a situation than he’d been paying attention to, “It’s truly amazing how many times we walk around thinking we have a clear grasp on our own stories, only to reflect for even a moment from a different perspective ‘looking in’ only to find things aren’t what we thought they were at all!”

[Emerald Wolvenhowl]

Emerald nods and agrees completely with Prof Sindor. She smiles and chuckles at something she has thought of; " If only we could have glasses like Luna Lovegood. Only instead of them just showing us Wrackspursts they would clear away all the mists of obscurity too and show us what is the best action and step to take and the outcome of that action. If I had a pair of glasses like that I wouldn't look as if I walk around with question marks above my head,"