Day 308: Work is Play

It's not the first time I've said this, and it won't be the last, but when work's this much fun, I wonder if it's okay to call it work. I'm not sure I was even looking forward to this job that much (although I was grateful for the work and looking forward to hanging out with Sarah Lonton for work - always great fun).

And then we were on our way and I found I was a little bit nervous. Would I do it okay? Would I deliver in a way that was satisfying to the people in the room AND to the training company I'm contracted to? I'm fairly confident that I can give a room full of trainees a satisfying and useful experience, but can I do it how someone else likes it? That's always a little question, especially since My Great Big German Sacking (where I could have - and sometimes did - have the room happy, engaged and open, but was being hampered by others who hated my style.

As is always the way, in my very first live bit, I was accompanied by the lead trainer, who then facilitated what I would otherwise have facilitated myself. I was engaged in a funny dance of wanting to get on with connecting with the delegates and give them the most helpful experience possible AND showing this person that I know what I'm doing. I veered heavily towards the former, though I did catch myself doing one thing I perhaps wouldn't have done if I'd been alone. Nothing harmful, though. 

She must have been okay with it, because she left me to it after the first one and moved around. I relaxed and my focus was even more on the delegates. The next one felt much more fluid. Cut to after the break and I'm with a new group and a new trainer who, to my delight, sits back, nods, joins in occasionally with good suggestions, but otherwise allows me to play, to facilitate the sessions and even to suggest little games for delegates to play as part of their session (by that I mean small tasks for themselves rather than group games). And I just loved it. I love playing with these people. I am grateful for their responsiveness and their trust. I love what we're doing. God, I want to do more of this. 

We ate very well. We laughed. We swam in the pool, partook of the sauna and got a proper pummelling in the jacuzzi spa thingy. Then we ate some more, walked around the rabbitty grounds in the dark and looked up at the 'milk pan' in the clear, black sky. I had a bath. An actual massive, way-too-hot bath. I'm now sitting up in a wide hotel bed with green velvet cushions on, about to sleep like a starfish in the double bed. Today, I'm glad to be here alone. Some day I'd love to have a clandestine visit during one of these hotel stays. Aah, there's time. Right now, I'm going to see if I can muster up a snore. Just because I can.