In Thom’s Flow Festo, which I highly recommend giving a re-read since he initially came out with it, he speaks of the notion that we can reprogram our minds and our muscle memory in accordance with whatever task we have set out for ourselves. In essence, we as humans have the ability to learn, both from our mistakes and from our successes. Thom goes on to point out that this ability to redesign our neural capabilities is not a natural talent, but instead revolves around our willingness to explore new possibilities. This theory opens up a whole new set of ideas and possibilites surrounding the notion of Talent. And that’s exactly what I’m going to explore today, where our ability to reprogram our subconscious comes into direct defiance of this notion of natural ability.

Drex and “The Talent Trap”

Drex wrote an interesting article entitled The Talent Trap in which he details the various reasons why he believes that Talent is indeed overrated and perhaps suffers greatly from a vague set of definitions and understanding. What we tend to see as Talent is actually a unique set of life experiences prior to attempting that specific skill set which render the artist better equipped than you or I. Barring physical differences, such as height in basketball or weight in Sumo wrestling, we are all born with a similar blank slate. And while some of us approach spinning or flow from backgrounds better suited to kinetic art, it’s only a matter or prioritizing those aspects of our mind and reprogramming what’s important that separates the talented from the muggles.

I think, therefore I am

This popular phrase from Descartes is usually meant as a proof that the notion of self-awareness through thought is proof enough that the thinker, at least in mind, does indeed exist. But while writing this article, the phrase struck me as concept that whatever exists in one’s mind makes the man, so to speak. Essentially I’m suggesting that you are what you think. And in terms of reprogramming one’s mind, that’s an essential point to understand in building confidence that anything is possible. If you begin to think of yourself as a hooper, then you will become a hooper in whatever capacity entices you. But in order to reprogram the mind, there must be a willingness and an openness of thought to allow yourself to be swayed, to allow your mind to be changed. Stubbornness is the enemy of progress when it comes to reprogramming. You must begin by allowing yourself to see yourself as whatever it is you want to be.

Reprogramming also means Restructuring

I feel that most people learn by putting progression into a linear structure. We outline our progress in steps, much like climbing a ladder. And to be honest, perhaps that’s a necessary starting point in the learning process, because it simplifies the object of our obsession into bite sized chunks that we can see ourselves completing. But over time we begin to realize the complexity of our artform in such a way that it becomes overwhelming and indeed impossible to see progress from a linear standpoint. And in order to continue in our development as flow artists we must restructure our understanding of play to incorporate a variety of avenues, but this can be a freeing realization. This allows us as skilled artisans to structure the learning process around our interests instead of our weaknesses.

Language is key

There’s always tons of discussion as to the definitions and names given to a specific move or concept. It’s sometimes useful and also can turn out to be extremely tedious. I feel much of that derives from the community’s ever changing ideas on a certain concept. We can all agree on what spin/anti-spin is as well as the basic foundations of a weave or timing/direction because we as a community are more familiar with it. The language in question today is still being defined by the constant communal reprogramming that’s taking place. And so it’s not only individual reprogramming that’s important but the wealth of knowledge accumulated from an entire community that helps to push the science of our art forward. Notice how quickly many new spinner’s pick up concepts that took us years to master. And it’s all due to a better foundation from which we teach.

I think my brain is about to encounter a syntax error if I keep going, so on that note I’ll call it an article. If you like this musing on Flow, check out Thom’s original article, Flow Festo – A Flow Arts Manifesto, which will also contain links to the follow ups that I’ve done on many of the topics covered. And stay tuned for more topics on his Flow Festo I’ll be covering soon.

Well, it’s been a summer alright. I wouldn’t say that it’s been long, or hard, or strenuous, but it has been a summer, and it’s soon to have been fall as well. And all the while I’ve lost track of what this site should be, shouldn’t be, could be. Perhaps it’s the fact that I was posting too frequently for a single person. Perhaps it’s the inevitability that comes with knowing there’s only so much relevant information to pass along at any given time. Or perhaps it’s the simple fact that Winter means hibernation, and hibernation for spinners usually means more time thinking, less time spinning. And now that I think of it, this thing needs to get back on track, which is exactly what this article intends to do. So let’s get this ball rolling again.

Lesson 1: Don’t Force It

Perhaps this one seems a bit obvious, but as a writer, blogger, whatever, I tend to see myself as having the responsibility to post good content frequently. And while that’s all well and dandy, sometimes there’s just nothing left to post. Inspiration comes from having a need to express something, a visceral pull towards sharing whatever you’re thinking or feeling with the people around you. Yet in the realm of blogging we’re told that readers want consistent content, on a regularly scheduled basis. So, like the good little soldier I am, I dedicated myself to creating a post a day. Mind you these wouldn’t be full on articles, but perhaps something a little less substantial to keep the throng of my adoring fans satiated until I was struck by something brilliant.

But over time that single article a day seemed to feel less and less useful, and so I conspired to create two articles per day. Big mistake. The problem here is I’m looking to places like Mashable, Engadget, and Gizmodo to inform my blogging habits and routine. But not only are those blogs drawing all of their information from a much larger pool, they are also utilizing numerous active authors. Even one article a day is pushing it for someone who quite enjoys a nice cup of tea, netlflix, and cuddling way too much to spend so much time hunched over a computer screen.

Resolution: Write Less, Feel Better

Self-Explanatory really. I’ll be writing a bit less, and feeling much better about it.

Lesson 2: Create, Don’t Aggregate 

Well, maybe that’s a bit aggressive in terms of setting a new goal for this project, but you get the point. Before, much of my time was spent aggregating videos, music, lessons, etc. from numerous places all over the internet. And the only thing I was creating was articles, much like this one. And this is a video based community, so what was I thinking? What am I thinking now, as I write this article? Well, I will still be writing some articles, but I will be aggregating less content on here, because I figure the people who are reading this are probably active on Facebook, and thus are seeing much of the same content that I am. And I am also not very good at being the first one to know about something. So I’ll leave that to the people who are much better at that than me, such as Insphyre and Hooping.org. That’s not to say I won’t be aggregating at all, but just less.

Resolution: Make More Videos:

Taking a page right out of the Vulcan Crew’s book by sitting down to make some kick ass content of my own, perhaps even some content which will hopefully be new and interesting to the likes of you discerning circus folk.

Lesson 3: Blogging Should Be a Conversation

I know this one sounds a bit off, since most people think of blogging as lonely people sitting at home on the computer with nothing better to do. And generally speaking that’s true. But what’s the point of blogging if it doesn’t connect you with other people? Isn’t that why the internet has turned into such an incredible tool, communication? Unfortunately it’s hard to break through the old memes of media which suggest that the world is made up of active performers and a passive audience. Now it’s time that I stop talking and start listening. But I can’t have a conversation without you, so please feel free to write comments, write on the facebook page, tweet me, or send me an email (so long as you are a real person). I want to hear about what’s going on in your spinning life, the things you want to hear about, videos you’d like to see, and events you want me to talk about. I’m all ears. I’m also working on a few new ways to communicate with people so keep your ears perked for that info when it’s ready.

Resolution: Ask Questions, Engage

This is the hardest one. I can sit here all day waiting for you to respond, or I can get out there and get active. Hopefully I’ll be doing the latter as best I can. And hopefully I’ll have a willing and responsive audience. No pressure.

All in all I’ve got to do things a little differently around here if I’m going to sustain this for more than a few months. And I need to get my butt off the couch and make some dang videos! Seriously though, if there’s anything you’d like to hear about, talk about, or any direction you’d like me to go with this thing, then I’m all ears.