ALCHEMY ARCHIVES — LEARNING CURVE RSS

This week’s essay is a little addition to the brand new JOY THEORY episode. Start with the episode. Then read this. It will make a lot more sense.    Part of improving my skateboarding this summer, particularly my kickturn, has been being open to feedback. As I mentioned in the JOY episode, skateboarding is kind of a feedback unicorn. Feedback here exists in the Safe+ Useful quadrant and runs smoothly, fostering improvement within the community. It’s magical as fuck and somehting I hope to be able to really dissect and replicate in other environments. Not everyone wants to skateboard, but can we all participate in feedback like someone who skates off a 73 foot ramp, right?     The feedback I received...

One of the many strange things about being in the field of psychology is that despite an ongoing effort to open thoughts and emotions up for exploration, sometimes the clinician’s perspective can actually become quite narrow. I understand that reads like a paradox when so much of the profession is about opening things up, providing space, perspective and potential. But sometimes in the pursuit of opening things up, we can unintentionally close things off.    I was reminded of this paradox a few weeks ago when I met up with my kiddo’s pro at our local skatepark.  She needed some help problem solving around lines that had her at a standstill. A line is basically how you see part of...