Haha, great post. Totally reminds me of my old hockey practice days. One of the first things they had me do when I was a kid once I had all of my pads on is to skate back and forth flopping all over the ice on your belly, gluteus maximus, knees, elbows. Probably one of the best ways to begin learning anything -- by realizing failure isn't painful, but actually a bit fun!

What a great idea! =) You know, it would be good to use that idea in brainstorming, too: getting lots of crazy ideas out...

Think you may like the lyrics to Fall Down Learning - see http://www.thelongwalk.info.

Lyrics available in a PDF under 'Downloads'; you can hear it performed under 'Music'.

Credit for the words is to Lemn Sissay http://www.lemnsissay.com.

Indeed! Good stuff to think about, particularly for introverts.

The way I deal with conversations with strangers is to assume we're already friends. (This was surprisingly useful in improv classes, too, as assumptions can really move a scene along!)

Good strategy.

Made me think of when I'm working with people preparing for job interviews - I remind them they're going along to meet their new colleagues (not a firing squad!!)

I remember my mom - encouraging my son, when he was learning how to skate, "Think like about Bambi ... he really enjoyed falling down ... and did Thumber ... " and when the fear of falling down, was changed into idea of funny falling ... it was far easier to learn ...

Love this post :)

Glad you liked it, and thanks for sharing it with your Twitter friends! =)