 |
| Sanding hoops at Under The Spinfluence. |
This month marks 18 months since my hoop journey began. Don't worry, I don't intend to write a post like this every time another six months passes by! But recently I've been reflecting back over these 18 months. It seems incredible to me that I've been hooping for only 18 months. Like - what did I do with my time BH [before hooping]? I can't remember!
It was interesting to read my journal to find out what was happening in my hoop journey last September, when I had been hooping for six months. I went to my first hoop gathering and taught my first class in September 2012. Both were very exciting for me, and I was in a happy place with my hooping.
The other thing I discovered in my journal, which surprised me, was that in September last year I thought I was a pretty damned fine hooper. I had a few kinks to iron out - like I couldn't knee hoop or hoop on one shoulder, but those things were just a matter of time. {Which is true - I can do both now.} Despite those small faults I had it going on. I never said it explicitly in my journal, but it was obvious that was how I saw my hooping.
*embarrassed cough*
Fast forward a year, and now I've had a lot more exposure to the hoop community. I spend far too much time watching hoop videos on YouTube, and I've also been able to video myself. Both of those things have given me some perspective on my skill with the hoop.
It's also not just a matter of learning this move or that move, and being content to leave it there. The more I learn within my hoop, the more I realise how much more there is for me to learn!
So now I think I'm an okay hooper. Obviously I'm a lot better than your average beginning hooper. My flow is improving all the time and I have some good moves - including some I made up myself - under my belt. In the hoop community I would be considered at intermediate level. And I'm happy with that.
Because I no longer see hooping as something to be achieved, as it was for me this time last year. Rather hooping is to be experienced and enjoyed - whether you're a beginning student who is content to hoop on her waist, or an eye-popping hoop artist.
Happy hooping,
Anne-Marie
It's a bit like with my research. I ask undergraduate science students to rate their science writing skills and they say "I'm pretty good - maybe 8/10". I ask senior scientists with 25 years experience of writing in their discipline and they say "I'm OK - maybe 6/10" !! You have to know something deeply, and be aware of the possibilities out there, to be able to know what you don't know.
ReplyDelete