Gearing up for week 4

I hope to see a full class for the beginning of week 4 Tuesday 1st March. Spent most of the weekend staying out of the heat and and trying to COMMUNICATE effectively with my son who likes to do things his way. Still with a bit of shared ideas we spent the majority of our time together in fun. It's basically a trade off between what he wants and what I think he wants, which of course does not always make for a contented toddler. I think talking and sharing with kids is a great way to see how effective your communication skills are considering that listening and talking need to be short, precise and directed.

On a completely different note I watched a documentary called 'Teenage Kentucky Vampires'  which was about a group of young people in Kentucky USA who lived their teens and early twenties as 'Vampires' in an extremely conservative small town. It showed how the locals would not hire any of the group's members for work and hassle them when they came into town. They lived in their own way quite happily and contented and formed a tight nit group who really got 'into' the Vampire culture. Their parents had kicked them out of home so they were drawn to each other as the 'spoke' the same language. Unfortunately one former member of the group was an unstable violent person who ended up on Death Row in Florida for a double murder. But because he was loosely associated with the Kentucky Vampires pressure from local towns people and officials forced the group to break up and consequently they drifted away from the town and into the bigger cities. It was just an interesting documentary showing how people in groups interact and enjoy each others company but because they were part of what was considered an 'extreme' cult their group dynamic was destroyed by the former member's crime that had nothing to do with their Vampire group. The town would not or could not communicate with the group because they (town members) assumed that everyone in the group was like the criminal on Death Row, which was of course totally untrue.

Community

Good to see the class getting to know each other and get along which is precisely what effective communication is. Talking, sharing and helping each other to get through as a community of learners. Our class demographic (the variety of personalities) is amazing in the diversity of learners.  We have recent school leavers, newly motivated learners all the way through to people looking to change their career's. Forming and maintaining relationships is a significant element in building a social and professional network.

Week 3- Hook In

Well it's moving quickly as usual. Time never stops to smell the roses. When you're young time is a snail, when you pass, say 30 years, it suddenly becomes a rocket you can't catch. Still, not much one can do about that. I was lucky to have done some shopping around as I was looking for Wolfmother's first CD, I saw it for $25.00 at a store then waited and checked out a second store near where I live and got the exact CD for $10.00, how good was that? Anyway this blog is at the moment about communication skills, the power of communication and the opportunities provided by effective use of communication skills to get what you want out of life. It's all easy on paper, it's just so frustrating to get what you want in the real world. That's a problem, nay a reality that has to be faced, theory and practise are distant cousins and regardless of information provided do not give much in the way of peace when it comes to getting stuck in at the coalface. Suck it up or as they say, "Welcome to the suck." It was reported that someone at 6 RAR at the Battle of Long Tan in August 1966 said, "...hook in.." meaning this is it, just do your job and get it done. Easier said than done, still it makes sense that the concept of working towards a goal requires one to 'Hook In', it is a simple but powerful message. The situation looks bad but if you don't get out there and fix it yourself it will get worse. You have to admire courage in the face of indeterminate odds.