Juggling. I can juggle responsibilities. I can juggle tasks. I can juggle a room full of kids asking me questions at the same time. What I can't do is juggle. It's hard!
On Tuesday afternoon, I had the opportunity to learn juggling from none other than
Greg Tarlin. You may remember him from the
blog post I wrote for Circus Sessions a while back. He's kind of a good juggler. Sort of amazing actually. And, I imagine he's a great teacher, but I am not a stellar student! Nope. No indeed.
For the past few Tuesday afternoons, I've been working with a group teaching them beginner aerial silks through the
Talk to Youth Lately programme provided by
Look Up Theatre's head mistress, Angola Murdoch. It's been an amazing experience on so many levels. I am so happy to working with the group and to finally be able to teach a bit of aerial. It's kinda been a dream of mine! Also, because it is a social circus group, I've been learning so much about dealing with mental illness and the struggles that the people in the group face on a daily basis. It's really very humbling to be a part of this and to learn from them as well.
This Tuesday was different though. Greg was there and Angola asked me if I'd like to learn how to juggle. Of course I said "yes!" and so it began. I was the only participant who had never ever juggled before. Some had only tried juggling a few times though, and it seemed like they had caught on, so I was confident I could too!
Don't get me wrong, Greg's instruction was clear and great and seemed to make perfect sense. We started with two balls, which aren't actually balls. They're like densely packed bean bags really. Greg's advice:
1. Hold your arms by your side and make a 90 degree angle at your elbows. Relax your shoulders (I think that's a thing, but mine can't/won't relax - Yikes!) and hold the balls in either hand.
2. Picture a square in front of you. Mark an imaginary X through the square. Easy enough!
3. Toss the balls to the opposite corner - so the ball in my left hand (which is my dominant hand for some reason when I play "sports" like golf, baseball and now juggling) is tossed to the top right corner.
4. When the first ball reaches the top of its arch, toss the second ball in to the opposite corner. Ideally, you catch both balls.
Doesn't that sound easy! It's only two balls! Honestly, I was tossing those balls all over the place. Too low, too high, too far in front, too far behind. And, I was catching very few. A third ball. Out of the question!
I thought I'd read somewhere when I was researching for my blog post
that most people could learn to juggle in about an hour?! LIARS! Everyone was awesomely supportive though. As they tossed 3, 4 or 5 balls through the air, they told me how well I was progressing. Angola saw me struggling and told me it took her weeks of intense learning and practicing to learn to juggle.
The perfectionist in me was struggling. Do I give up because I'm bad? Do I push on and try to improve? What to do?!
Greg told me to push like any good coach would! Add a third ball, he said. Try the drop technique. Hey, I was already good at dropping the ball, so why not give said technique a try. All I had to do was throw the balls up in the air in the correct pattern - left, right left - and let them drop. Ideally, two will drop in front of me on my right fairly close to each other and one on the left. That's a pattern I can handle. And, I did. His advice - don't get stuck with two balls. Go back and forth and try to progress.
Stellar advice. Don't get stuck! I'm so happy that I was able to meet Greg in person after interviewing him over the internet. I'm happy I was finally able to try juggling. I will try again too. Some day, I might even be able to juggle more than a busy schedule!
Cheers,
Jackie
