I just finished attending an acting workshop where the acting was secondary to the profound life lessons delivered.
I entered a vulnerable arena with a variety of people, some I didn’t know. I’ve done these type of workshops as well as others so I generally know what to expect. You have those who show up kind of quiet, shy and start off keeping to themselves. Then there are those with all the energy, excited and loud, reciting lines from movies we all know well. “You gonna eat your cornbread!” I love to see these dynamics play out. Usually the shy ones get involved and smiles bloom. While the ones with all the energy radiate a sense of light that can be felt. Communities are born.
After a series of warm-ups and name games we moved into the main activity. It was called Colombian Hypnosis. Two people face each other. One person will hold the palm of their hand six inches to about one foot in front of the other persons face. The object is for the person holding their hand up to lead and guide their partner while the partner’s face maintains the same distance, six inches or more, as the leader’s hand moves all around. It’s a follow the leader type of exercise. We were instructed to, the person holding their hand up, “Keep your partner safe.” The one following had to trust that their partner would lead them safely.
Concentration, movement, teamwork all essential in this activity. We would switch back and forth and also switch partners. It was great to see people coming out their shell and everyone having fun. Afterward we came together as a group for discussion. Questions asked were; what did it feel like to lead, what did it feel like to follow, in life are you a leader or follower and what do you think the purpose of this exercise was? Inquisitive as eyebrows raised, I could see people pondering how to answer the questions. When it came to what it felt like leading and following in this exercise most were OK with both. An answer was given, “I was nervous with leading because I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing and I didn’t’ want to mess up.” Another said, “Following was hard because of trying to maintain the distance while not knowing were the hand I was following was going to end up.”
I was surprised by answers to the question, in life are you a leader or follower? I was sure everyone would say, “I’m a leader!” But that wasn’t the case. I remember some one saying they prefer to follow because there is to much responsibility in leading. Another person said they didn’t want to make decisions that would affect the group because if something goes wrong it would be all their fault. I immediately thought, “If things go well, than you did good as a leader.” I didn’t voice my thought because it wasn’t the time for feedback. Someone else said they prefer to follow because they don’t want to let others down. Baffled! The thought crossed my mind, “What about letting yourself down or what if the one your following is doing something you don’t agree with?” A younger person in the room said he likes to follow because he just likes to be helpful.
The last question, what was the purpose of this exercise, was asked. Responses were given such as, the purpose was to help us understand what the follower needs so the leader can give good directions and be a good leader. Leaders have to be patient. Followers will also be leaders and leaders will also be followers. The statement that caught my attention the most, when one participant said, “When it comes to leading and following you can’t have one without the other. There can be no leader if there’s no followers. They both need each other.” WOW! How true is that statement. We need each other. The experiences we all have teach us so much but we don’t have these experiences alone. We learn from the generations before us and we pass down our knowledge to the generations after us. We learn from those we least expect to learn from and also from people we don’t even know. WE LEARN FROM EACH OTHER.
I refuse to pay forward all the negative thinking and bad habits I acquired in my time. I consider myself a leader and as a leader it’s a must that I give and teach others the good qualities of living. It’s my duty to role model positive behaviors, plant seeds that will grow beautiful flowers. Its time that we stand up as leaders and show others its cool to do what’s right.
I came into this workshop with a mindset of having fun. I had fun but actually got more. I was a follower this day and life lessons were delivered that I’ll cherish and be sure to pass on to others.
Editor’s Note: William Davenport is a peer specialist at a mental health facility inside a Colorado prison. His role is to lead people through hard things in a hard environment. Colombian Hypnosis is a theater exercise built entirely on trust and the willingness to be led somewhere unfamiliar, and I loved that he learned something worth passing on.
