What has it done for you???

Bish mentioned in one of his posts how much he has grown in the past year and a half, partially due to spinning.
I have been wondering, if spinning or adding yourself to this board has changed you and if so how????
I, myself am going to have to think on this before I can answer fully, though I do know what changes I have undergone have been good.

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Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir...

i know my arm muscles have gotten some what bigger and my physical endurence has improved quite a bit.... just for starters

its given me some pride in the things i do ouside of school work. unlike many people, im not a very good athlete, musicain, skateboarder ect. but i am something that only me and one other person in my school can do, and that thing happens to be just as difficult to learn and master as anything else that most other people do...strings

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bring light into the night

Such a challenging question Pele (I expect nothing less) :)

Well - for me, it has lead me to think about movement in a way I never have before...to be able to visuallise and break down moves as is neccessary on this board...well its not a skill I had previously posessed...I had some Idea about it from my Martial Arts training, but not to the same degree...

Also - twirling has opened up another avenue for meeting ppl...and being a member of this board has allowed me to meet all you guys..which is great...

I may or may not add to this answer as I think more on the topic... :)

<more>

I have to say Pele, that I'm having trouble objectifying twirlings effect on me...Its so close to me that I cant see it...I cant imagine myself without twirling being there...only at my lowest ebb do I gain nothing from it (thats how I know I'm really low).

I think the innovation that twirling requires, has helped me be more mentally flexible...I accept change and new things more easily..however to attribute this growth to twirling is hard...perhaps I would have developed like that without it? it IS part of me, I am part of it...

sorry kids...back to your regualr programming! :))

Love,

Josh

[This message has been edited by [Josh] (edited 02 April 2001).]

Challenging indeed, for I think at this point I will be answering on a shallow note.

This board has provided me with a whole new peer group; several of which I now consider close and dear friends. Around the time I joined the Meet Others database, I was mentally "dumping my old friends" - I'm 23 now and I think that over the years the friends I acquired at 15yrs old have all grown in different directions. Not a lot keeping us together.

So, I hooked up with Frenzie and Finn and a few others for a fire night, since then we have partied together, bonded, performed, BBQ'd and stay in touch on a daily basis. Josh has also been entangled in our firey web!! I found it's just so hard to make new friends as an adult (too many preconceptions and just a hint of a superiority complex), but now with the fire and our Wednesday gatherings, my circle of kindred spirits is ever-growing.

Fire dancing and HOP in particular has removed me from being a somewhat bored home-body, suffocating in depressive lonliness and helped me morph into the passionate, spirited and somewhat effervescent individual that I am meant to be.

Fire keeps the light behind my eyes.

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"she dances in a ring of fire and throws off the challenge with a shrug"

[This message has been edited by flash fire (edited 02 April 2001).]

i'm going to get super cheesy for once on the message board. :-)

before i started doing anything fire related i was totally inept at anything on a business level (still kind of think i am), a leadership level, or a vision level, and a group dynamic level. working with fire has totally made me a better people person, since i now have to work with venues/promoters/the fire department/the dymanics of our group/and lame people in the scene blah blah blah.. i've basically been the manager, prime choreographer, and motivater for our group (because _i_ wanted _my_ vision to be realized)... (which it really hasn't yet..but that's life....) i used to be a total wallflower mostly guilty of being too nice...i am _so_ not business suave but-) and doing things on a business level has nixed that... oh ..... i've definately vascilated between being too nazi and being too spineless... but finding that medium level or at least trying to find that level, is something that never would have happened had i never gone done this road... (i think.. i'll say i think since no one can really tell the future) but yeah. doing this stuff has most definately opened up an arena of my personality that i wouldn't have even be able to know how to cultivate without something i really really cared about...

Where to begin!!!

Since the end of January which is when i met Flash and Finn my life has been a whirlwind of parties events, gatherings, BBQs shopping excursions and the list goes on!

I was a "house wife" practically, with no friends around my area, and my old friends lacked any interest in anything i was interested in. Would mope around the house waiting for my bf to come home from work, and generally have no life.

But now! Since coming to the home of poi i have met so many wonderful people and as Flash mentioned, they have become very dear and loved friends.

I constantly have something to work towards in my week and things to keep me happy in an otherwise unfulfilling job.

I have even through Finn met a lady who has offered for me to help her exercise her horse, and for me riding has been a large part of my life up until 3 years ago when i sold my horse. Seems like everything is now falling into place!

hmm... if anyone has spare horses they could send one up this way... I've only wanted one since I was six =)

(And after having riding lessons for 11 years, I don't need lessons so much anymore as a horse =)

well i will try to keep it brief...
list:
new friends.
better arm, chest and back muscles(and thats good, just ask anyone who has seen me spin, i reely need muscle, im a skinny bastard)
confidencs.
co-ordanation.
fitness.
selfworth.
stamana and endurance.
the list could go on, but ill leave it there

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ladies and gentelmen take my advice, pull down your pants and slide on the ice...

If you're going to buy into aruvedic/starsign stuff (not that it costs anything), I think fire is very good for a entirely water/earth person like myself. Balancing the brain. Dancing is very airy, so thats good too.

do i dare say it? Yes i do dare. Ive gained new friends.

<sniff> i love you guys...

at this point, i think my concentration level has risen a notch. Not only in Spinning, but while i am am training, and even at work i have noticed that tend to stay on task more.

I get a great sense of fullfillment after learning something new..

And now that i have progressed further than those that initially taught me..i get to teach them new tricks. I love to teach peopel and help them learn something new.

It is slowly starting to effect my life..

never would have thunk it.

"S"

One word: "Discipline"

I've never had a hobby that I've had to set aside this much distinct "practice/rehearshal" time to. Okay, well I have, but I was never interested enough to STAY disciplined. But now I find myself practicing 6-7 hours per week with stretching exercises, strength training, and choreography, that I'd never previously set aside time for.

Before when I had hobbies, where if there was no practice, I merely looked like an idiot... I was sometimes satisfied to settle for "looking like an idiot" because there was "simply no time for practice." But with fire, if there is no practice, then there is DANGER... To myself and to my audience. So I find myself becoming more responsible. And this has spread to other areas of my life. First by merit of overlap. (i.e. while I'm already in my practice area and the music is already playing... I might as well do some belly dancing too. Or while I'm in the county web-site looking for fire regulations, I might as well take the time to register my dog...) but now these new organizational skills are spreading into habit. Which for me is an incredibly good thing.

And, I guess I've learned to speak up for myself more. Once again it was a progression. It went from a necessity of crowd protection ("If all you audience members don't PLEASE follow the safety instructions given you by my Safeties, I'm afraid I'm going to have to halt this performance right now.) to a realization that I wouldn't actually DIE if I said something on my own behalf. (On Saturday I spoke to the manager of my club about PAYING me for my performances on top of what I make in tips... Because HEY! The club is making more money now for my having been there. He didn't like it, but do you know what? The club will now be paying me. Yay!)

Oh, and Bish - if you're looking at this thread - my current big problem with the integration of pole work and poi is how to climb the pole one handed while NOT burning myself with the fireballs swinging from my other hand... Strength training. UGH.

well, i've gotten a lot more scars (he says typing with five bandaged fingers). i do have the knowledge that my clumsy lanky body can peform feats of coordination that will stun any passerby )and often stuns me), and that is reward enough.

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Earth my body, water my blood, air my breath, fire my spirit

Two weeks after I started playing with fire I got the overwhelming urge to quit smoking - so I did! I fall off the wagon now and again, but hey, no-one's perfect!

Maybe I'm just happy so long as I'm burning something and sparking up my pois is simply tons more fun than ciggies. It's interesting that I normally cave in to my nicotine craving after a few beers - which is pretty much the time I become incapable of spinning (I tried it a few times - it hurt........... alot).

Don't know how long this'll last but it's making me happy so I'll enjoy it while I can

Noods

Since i've started to spin fire, i got a new job, lost 60 pounds, married a super hot swedish model, went 3 times around the world, discovered the cure for the mad cow disease, improved my hebrew and mandarin, had a cop of tea with the dalai lama, and animals love me now.

nomad

Hmmm....I am in better physical shape, I have more stamina, more endurance, more constitution, and my abs, arms, legs and shoulders are stonger.
I have more tolerance and patience, not only for myself but for others thanks to all those frustrating moments in learning something new.
I am much more focussed and dedicated where for awhile my dedication to performing was faltering.
I have more confidence simply because I now belong to this mutual admiration society where I don't feel like such an outsider.
My courage in trying new things has grown, which might be dangerous since I have always had that but reason seems to sometimes escape me now.
I have more peace. I feel more, for lack of a better term, in touch with me. Since freestyling for me is meditative it is healing and theraputic for me. I am less aggressive or apt to be if I ever was since I have an outlet where it is full acceptible.
I am more demanding on myself now, more creative physically where my creativity used to be in the more mental/comedic/literary styles and my performing was directed by someone else. I started my own produciton company and I attribute that to poi. I am more determined to succeed and follow through.
I have always been close to my son but this gives us something to do together that we both enjoy immensely.
I have met you guys, some of whom I have become close friends with and that is enough for me.
Over all I think poi was a catalyst for change in my life when I was looking for a new direction to expand in.

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Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir...

I think fire has made me a more confident person. Esp. when I am burning, I am more apt to walk up to people and start talking to them, about burning, or just about whatever.

It has helped my rythem for sure!

I have made a new group of great friends, and thankfully my really good old friends got into it too, so its something we can all share.

I'm up for trying new things, and with fire its like their is always something new to do. whether its from poi to staff, to Fire Breathing to fire eating, or a new trick..your possibilites are almost endless!

)^(
FirePunk

confidence.
peace out
garbo

When I found this sight I actually jumped up and down screaming. This is something that I can excell at very quickly. The better I do is only dependant on me. Not money or some other thing that I can't control. What has it done for me? It's what I "do". My (please forgive) hobbie.

Ah, excellent thread. Thanks, Pele.
Firstly, physically. I came out a long illness just before I started fire. I dumped about twenty pounds and got more fit than I'd been in years (ever?)
Then, all the rest. More confident. More focused. More joyful. More grounded. More open. Freer. Thanks be to Fire.
Diana