Session 5, Week 6
Last year the Spark heroes learned and performed an epic song titled “The Golden Rule.” The heroes sang questions such as “How does it feel when someone takes the time to get to know you?”, “How does it feel when someone offers you a helping hand?”, and then shouted the answer with overpowering intensity “IT FEELS GOOD!” It is one of my highlight memories from last year. “It feels good!” has become an iconic answer for some of us. Inspired by that memory we looked around and asked the heroes this week “How does it feel” as we wrapped up Session 5.
When did Spark heroes say “It feels good!” this week?
When they learned a new trick on the skateboard or reached new heights on the scooter.
I was told, “it feels good”, when heroes had friends to huddle for warmth on a cold day. Being in the moment you can see on their faces that “good” is much deeper than it sounds.
I did my challenging goals! I did grammar! I did math! I made a pattern! How does it feel? “It feels so good.” “I’m so proud of myself.” “I can’t wait to show my mom!” “I’m going to do another work!”
We talked about what a big accomplishment feels like. It does feel “good”, but what does “good” feel like to you? Here is a portion of the discussion:
I get goose bumps …Happy Goosebumps
Good feels like you have accomplished something that’s really hard.
Good feels like, I finally did this! Hooray!! And it’s like you’re in a parade… only you’re not.
Sometimes when I accomplish something or when I’m going to do something fun, my stomach feels weird.
-You’re smiling… so like a good weird??-
Yeah. When I accomplish something, my heart starts beating.
It feels tingly like when you say, I have a million dollars and there’s a tingle thing that feels good, kind of like a goosebump. And sometimes when you’re super excited to do stuff, your body wiggles inside you. …Kind of like the old lady who swallowed the fly. It wiggles and giggles inside you.
Sometimes challenges don’t initially feel good.
The challenge was to go from stepping on the brown side of the tarp to stepping on the silver side of the tarp, but without stepping off of the tarp. How does it feel when you can’t seem to solve the challenge? “It’s frustrating and makes me feel angry.” How does it feel when you finally solve the challenge? “It feels joyful, like cheering!”
Building cars & attaching something to protect an egg down the ramp was a big challenge this week. There were many tears shed on that first day of creation. Things didn’t work as simply as they hoped. There was a lot of effort, troubleshooting, frustration and figuring things out.
Sometimes it is hard to watch failure. Sometimes as guides we want to swoop in and build the car for them or give them our ideas. BUT, when we let them fail, it brings so much opportunity for learning. Several cars were totaled before the exhibition and heroes asked what they would do during that time. We reflected on the process of creating the cars and all the challenges they faced. We asked them if they thought their parents cared more about how their cars turned out, or more about how much their brain worked in the process. They all concluded their parents would care more about their brains and that even if their car didn’t survive, they could still share about the process.
I love that heroes have the ownership over their project so they can feel the ownership of the accomplishment. It isn’t too surprising that these heroes feel proud of creating a car, but we even saw it when a hero did an excellent job cleaning the toilet this week. I could see a sense of pride in this hero, and asked how it feels to be so good at helping the studio? His answer, “it feels good in my head and my heart.”
How did it feel to the Fire Studio heroes to do food art?
“Sticky.” “Messy.” “Really fun.” “Creative.” ” “I love it.”
What about finishing an entire level of Writer’s Gym. How does that feel? “Good! great! Awesome!” What makes it feel like that? “I did a lot of work to get here and it’s my favorite work in Core Skills.”
How does it feel when Writer’s Gym is not your favorite, but you finally overcame Mr. Resistance and recently have been working SUPER hard on Writer’s Gym? “It’s still not my favorite, but it’s not so bad and it feels good to do it.”
How does it feel to have to add another ribbon because your first ribbon is all full of badges? “I feel proud”
A hero earned a heroic habit focus badge. How does it feel? “I got so much work done while I was working on my focus habit, and I feel good about that.”!
There are not many weeks left of Core Skills work this year, how does that feel to you? “A little stressful, I have lots of badges to finish.” “Kind of sad, this year is going fast.” “Exciting!”
Fire Studio heroes had two exhibition-type events this week to reflect on “How we felt about it?” The feelings after the Monday Questaurant Food Court were relief and excitement. Relief that a very busy and intense hour was over, and excitement at the amount of fake and real cash earned at the event.
The heroes agreed that the exhibition on Wednesday was one of their smoothest yet.
The heroes talked about the feelings they want their exhibition guests to come away with at the end of any event they plan. Some of their answers: “pride in their hero’s hard work”, “amazement at all they’ve accomplished”, and “surprise at the fun they had.”
Here’s the list the heroes made of what made their Session 5 Exhibition awesome:
Outside of what the heroes accomplished this week, there were some other things that felt good! How does it feel to trip and hit the pavement or the tile floor? It hurts! How does it feel when most every hero in the studio gathers around you and lifts you up pretending to be the ambulance, or puts the piece of furniture you tripped on in “time out”? On two different occasions, heroes tears turned to laughter with the support of so many allies and helpers. That feels good! And how about the tribe building challenges and Congo lines? It feels good!
Monday morning found the DELTA heroes “overwhelmed” with all they had to do this week and “apprehensive” about the Exhibition.” We practiced the skill of list making and prioritizing and then heroes dug in! On Monday and Tuesday most heroes were all about finishing their builds and videos. One hero who had come face to face with Mr. Resistance every time he thought about his video, finally overcame Mr. Resistance, asked for some support from fellow travelers and created an awesome video. I asked him how it felt to overcome resistance and finish his video. His answer, “So relieved!.” During the Exhibition I asked a few heroes how they felt about their builds? “I’m pleased with myself if I don’t compare myself to other people. My brain learned to work in a different way this quest.” “I am impressed it works.” “Very happy.” “It was a failure.” It feels to good to work so hard and feel proud of what you accomplish! And failure is great too 🙂
We asked the heroes what they learned over the last 6 weeks of Quest? Their responses: be responsible, coding skills, try new things out of comfort zone, try lots of different options before choosing one, it’s okay to use online assistance after brainstorming yourself, encourage yourself and others, don’t compare your abilities to others – work in your zone, have gratitude for learning opportunities, be curious, stand up for yourself, tools are not toys, details matter, don’t be wasteful, reflect on projects and life often, congratulate people, do not get stuck in Analysis Paralysis, write down your thoughts, prototype-failing is good, ask for help, be humble, do research, budget wisely.
After Exhibition, heroes still had much to do.
During Civ they explored the assassination of JFK. It was so fun to hear their opinions and discussions all over the studio. “Fascinating” “This is crazy, my mind is blown.” “I don’t know what I think.” ” SO interesting.”
They had two more days to finish their session goals. To one hero who usually finishes her session goals and barely missed it this time (somewhat due to things out of her control) she felt “SO frustrated.” To another hero who hasn’t traditionally finished her session goals and did this time, she felt “It’s kind of weird, and awesome.”
They also got to play with their food! How did that feel to them?
“Uncomfortable, but fun.” “Queasy, but also exposure therapy.” “It makes me so happy.” “It’s been so long.” “I do this all the time :)”
My feedback from the heroes at the end of last session was that the heroes wanted more tribe building challenges. I listened and they had lots more this session. In their session feedback this time the commitment that they almost unanimously felt they had improved most on was “Building an inclusive tribe.” When asked why tribe building challenges help with this, their responses were: “We learn to trust each other.” “Everyone is participating in something, not just the people who are good at something.” “It is a break.” “You have to coordinate with other people.” “You have to communicate non verbally.” “You have to read what kind of feedback to give – cheer on or hey you messed up!” “They put us all on the same team.” “We get more ok with failure.” “We laugh together.” Building an inclusive tribe feels good!
All but two of the heroes felt like they pushed themselves harder during Misogi this session as compared to last session. How does Misogi feel? “It is hard.” “It is tiring.” “It is painful.” “It is difficult.” No one is getting a prize or a badge for doing Misogi. No one is forced to do it. So why do they do it? Because in the end, it feels good to do hard things!
The next time the DS heroes see one another they will be meeting at the airport to fly to San Diego. How does it feel to fully plan a trip together? Activities, food, lodgings, transportation, finances… everything? “Stressful.” “Makes me want to cry.” “AHHHHHHHH.” “Makes me appreciate my parents.” “Tribe building – even though it’s frustrating.” “I’m learning a lot.” Heroes self selected into 5 different committees: Activities, Accounting, Food, Travel logistics and Fundraising. It has been so fun to listen to the questions, and conversations in and between their committees. “What are we doing on Wednesday afternoon so we know what food to plan?” “How far is it from La Jolla to our house so I can know how much gas we will need and how much time it will take to get there?” “Can we check in early?” “Can we switch kayaking for our fellow traveler who has to leave early – so can we switch all of Friday?” “Why is a flight faster on the way there than on the way back?” Another hero across the room: “Head and tail winds!” “We can’t check in until 5:00, can we switch the whole day plan… again?” 21 young people buying airline tickets, baseball tickets all together, finding student discounts for the USS Midway, meal planning for every meal, having to call businesses and write emails instead of texting, this whole experience has been amazing to witness. I can’t wait to ask how it feels when we they are enjoying the fruits of their labor in San Diego!!!
As we wrap up Session 5 we ask “How did Session 5 feel?” While there was a vast range of emotions every day from every different hero. The best way to sum it all up is… “It feels good!”