Play Pretend with me, please?

So I recently pushed/challenged myself that honestly scared/intimidated me, which was to play a "pretend game," where you pretend to be somebody, or some character, some expression, or some emotion. Like for example "a mean, disruptive student," or a "strict teacher,"  or "Alice in wonderland,"  or  "apologetic," or "teasing,"  or whatever creative thing you can make up. So I had success, and I have been having a blast! The experience of myself is like I have this ability to creatively come up with any idea and then immediately play with it. Meaning there isn't a hesistation. Yet there is like a time/moment where I can see the idea and assess whether I actually want to follow through. For example, having an idea that everyone is camping in a tent, and I am a monster in the woods.

 What I find is that I am constantly assessing and playing with everyone else, as well as playing with myself and playing with my own expression, and playing with my own body/self. I am playing with ideas. So it means I actually try things out, and it is fun.

In order to push myself to play pretend I had to make the choice to push past the uncertainties, and honestly just go for it. Like really creatively play here, now. And I also had to push past any other troubles that may arise. Like insecurities for examples. Or if someone else's expression may lead me to feel a certain way, because how I have judged that expression in the past.

I find that the more creative, unexpected I become, the more fun it is. And it is not about winning a competition at all. It is about having fun. It is about your expression and how you are making it to be.

And the students have been supportive, especially the older ones, which may be because of their experience and understanding.... who knows? I haven't asked them why... And the younger ones joined in of course.

So pleaseeeeeee, play with me?

I decided to keep playing until I am absolutely sick of it, which so far it seems impossible...

Children leading the Adults

So I am a new staff here, and one thing I knew I haven't developed fully is leadership. Now, having been here since August, which means about 5 months, I can reflect and look back and saw how the students have actually assisted me to take on leadership qualities. Meaning, that the students had lived examples of leadership and authority, which I naturally took in and assimilated in myself. If you want a nice easy catch phrase you can say that they were teaching me how to be a leader. Which now I can say being a leader has a lot to do with being comfortable with yourself, and being comfortable with what you are saying and sharing with another. So leading requires a depth of calm in your being. Within that calmness, comes forth clarity, which translates into easy to understand communication. Many of the students at the school simply speak and share what they see, and for the most part it is clear, within confidence, and self-acceptance. They also are quite supportive and respectful towards those who lack such confidence, such as with me in some moments. I am not saying they are perfect, by no means, but they certainly has served as a supportive example many many times for me and how I can be.

A JC Case involving pushing

In respect and consideration for person's privacy, I will not be mentioning any actual names of individuals.

So today, there was an interesting JC case where someone had pushed someone. On the surface level, initially it may appear to the untrained eye that the person that pushed someone was completely guilty and at fault. However as the case progressed we learned more details. So in other words, we understood the events that lead up to the pushing incident. Having the bigger picture, we decided that both parties were at fault, and so the case was dismissed. My sense is that everyone left with a greater understanding about our relationships with each other. At the very least each one present had the opportunity to understand on a deeper level how and why people act within anger, and how to best support and respect a person when they get angry. Because we are responsible if we play into and feed the fire of the anger, even intentionally, unintentionally, and even when having the best or good intentions.