I recently had the opportunity to speak with Mary Ting. She and I discussed my manual. She had several suggestions in regard to small issues of my wording in the introduction and conclusion. These things I will address and I will likely end up resubmitting my manual.
She also shared her insights into sections of the manual which she felt were most poignant and intriguing to the average reader. These sections are passages which deal with practicing falling and, in a sense, learning about and navigating failure. She felt that one of the most important parts of my practice and project is the practice and rehearsal of falling. Mary observed that it is common for people to avoid failure and falling. Our society steers us towards safety and security without teaching us how to navigate dangerous situations where we must trust that we can catch ourselves if we begin to waiver. But within my practice falling is an important element as it is what allows me to (learn to?) trust that I am able to deal with a slip or wobble. We discussed how this idea, learning to fail, could become its own paper, or the conceptual framework of future ideas and projects.
We also looked at the visuals of the manual and she shared with me what she found to be more accessible and successful in the many diagrams. I will take these considerations into account as I refine the manual in the coming weeks.