Comments on: Review: InterPlay

By: Gretchen

Gretchen — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 14:54:56 +0000

Thanks, Scott, for the YouTube piece!
And come play with us some Tuesday night…the more the merrier!

By: Gretchen

Gretchen — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 14:53:43 +0000

I’m with you that certain personal development workshops are worth paying for! And DEFINITELY people are more invested when their money is at stake (I can speak for myself here and say that is definitely true). I think about this a lot as a teacher of middle school students, and the differences between public and private schools…and the fact that even at my private school, the kids who are doing the learning are not the ones paying for it, so their motivation for being there comes from a different place than their parents!

I guess my discomfort comes in when the ONLY way that people grow is when they go to workshops. What happened to communities as sources of strength and growth and love? I guess in many ways, these workshops have replaced church in our cultural life. I think, too, about Malidoma Some’s book The Healing Wisdom of Africa”…perhaps I’ll post a separate review of that book.

I also have some questions about the inherent classism/elitism in the way personal development workshops are structured. And I often wonder about the huge emphasis that is placed on individual growth and ego-redemption… which is why I so appreciate Growth Pop as a medium to explore some of these questions, so that I have a forum in which I don’t have to take my craving for transformation too, too seriously.

By: scott

scott — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 05:52:12 +0000

I love the idea that improv can loosen you up to really have freedom with people and situations. I think it’s really true and is one area I want to work on for myself…how do I loosen up those vocal chords, especially when I’m nervous!

By: marc

marc — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 04:38:46 +0000

Thanks Gretchen, but the truth is that Scott found it.

As for price, I think that personal development _is_ worth paying for. And in a conversation with Scott about a new venture of his, we agreed that paying for it actually puts something at stake. If I pay money, especially if I pay near the limit of what I feel is “worth it” then you bet your butt I’ll give it my all. And since personal development is all about how much you put into it, then the money actually serves a purpose other than supporting the coaches: it supports _you_ too.

By: Gretchen

Gretchen — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 04:17:20 +0000

Thanks for finding that You Tube piece, Marc!! It helps to show, better than I could have, the “pop potential” of InterPlay. From homeless women to kids in juvenile hall to middle class folks who need to (as one of my 7th grade students put it) “take a chill pill.”

And I too have noticed how expensive personal development has become! I have to admit that the other day in a workshop on prosperity I felt positively foolish as I looked around at all the serious people in intense diads, trying so earnestly to transform, and I thought to myself, “WHAT are we doing, and WHY are we spending so much money to do it?”

By: marc

marc — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 22:04:08 +0000

This looks like a lot of fun. I looked at the site and it’s also really financially accessible. I’ve been thinking a lot about how expensive personal development is these days, and some of InterPlay’s work is so cheap it feels like I’d be stealing!