Constraints make us creative
We all have constraints, especially today, which required us to become more creative. Here is a story from my last weekend to inspire that creativity in you, even a bit.
This weekend I was a staff at a self-awareness workshop near Caesarea’s beach (Sdot Yam, Israel). About 50 people of our self-awareness community joined the weekend. What usually we arrange in a big air-conditioned space altogether. We had to operate in the open air due to COVID-19, in the Israeli summer, in capsules of 20 people each. How did we handled the situation?
We asked our host to set a shade in the big balcony in advance. But the host set the shade only on a small part and didn’t cover enough space.
We also found out that there isn’t going to be a light in the balcony during the night.
How did we handle this situation? How did we keep our community’s togetherness when we cannot have more than 20 people in one place?
First, we calculated where the shade is going to be during our activities.
Then, we created three spaces separated with lycra and connected it to different secure fences so the wind won’t take it away. That’s how we could be together in one area and see each other but physically divided into capsules.
At the beginning of the activities, we switched people between the spaces to make sure they don’t stick with the people they know well, and that’s how we helped to strengthen the connection between people in our community and let them know better other people.
During the breaks, we deny entrance to the room, but only for water/coffee and toilets, and closed off the air-conditioners to ensure there aren’t gathering in close spaces.
In the evening, we attached battery-based led lights to the lycra, which also made a magical atmosphere.
One of my takeaways from this weekend was that most things are possible, and by thinking through the constraints, creative solutions will come.
