What defines a hooper? Skill, enthusiasm, or hours spent geeking out to hoop videos on-line? Watch for these warning signs that the hoop has spiraled into your soul.
Morning routine, "What's on hooping.org?"
Your cat sleeps in the hoop stack.
You understand why "left is the new right"
There's no furniture or light fixtures in your dining/livingroom.
You spend five minutes packing clothes and personal items for a weekend trip and 45 minutes deciding which hoops to take.
You own more than five hoops.
The back seat of your car is filled with hoops instead of people.
Half of your ipod is filled with hooping tutorials instead of music.
Whenever you see a large open area you think "Wow, great hooping space"
You choose your new car based on whether your hoops will fit or not.
You're proud of your bruises.
Invisible hoop dancing is unconsciously performed when no hoop is available.
You send a lot of time on hooping sites and communities!
You choose your outfits based on hoopability.
You have so much hoop tape that your room looks like a rainbow threw up in it.
Created by T.O.O.C with help from Amanda, Fresh Baked Cupcake, Kristen, L to the inz, Tangled Macrame, and Alicia. You can check out the original discussion and the resulting silliness at http://www.hoopcity.ca/forum/topics/you-know-you-are-a-hooper-when .
Showing posts with label community building. Show all posts
Showing posts with label community building. Show all posts
Monday, July 13, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Competition
After reading Ashton Gannon’s “Hooping Is NOT Serious Business…is it?” I spent some time contemplating competition and it place in a community. Here on Hoop City (and in the hooping community as a whole) I perceive an ideal of inclusiveness, the belief that regardless of skill we are each unique contributors to our art and our tribe.
However I can’t ignore the fact that I judge others in relation to myself. I figure most people do. The issue therefore is more complex than saying “hooping isn’t a competition,” because competition, both personal and economic, shapes and hones our community. Among professionals and craftspeople, hooping is a competition to sell hoops and earn gigs. Not only does competition divide the successful entrepreneur from the dabbler, but it drives each contributor to craft a better product and create a more dazzling act.
Stepping aside from the eat-or-be-eaten perspective of competition, I also want to explore how competition helps divide and distribute the work of a community. Our skills extend far beyond those initial judgments of who is the most skilled or sexiest hooper. I find myself thinking about our meet-up last weekend, because in the days before I was so preoccupied with how I would measure up to the folks I met. However once I got there I realized being non-competitive is easier in practice than in my head. Watching hoopers drift in and out of camp I really glimpsed our diversity. Some gals are always hooping, others pick up the hoop for short bursts. Some know lots of tricks, others make waist hooping a fascinating dance. Outside the circle I met folks who organize, folks who share their booze, folks who teach, and folks who can identify the rocks we find along the creek bed.
All those unique skills strengthen and enrich our community. Competition gives us each the space and opportunity to use our energy where it is needed most, doing work we do best. As a community we must continue to be mindful that competition doesn’t create a mire or envy or elitism and I believe acknowledging competition, rather than denying it, is an important first step.
However I can’t ignore the fact that I judge others in relation to myself. I figure most people do. The issue therefore is more complex than saying “hooping isn’t a competition,” because competition, both personal and economic, shapes and hones our community. Among professionals and craftspeople, hooping is a competition to sell hoops and earn gigs. Not only does competition divide the successful entrepreneur from the dabbler, but it drives each contributor to craft a better product and create a more dazzling act.
Stepping aside from the eat-or-be-eaten perspective of competition, I also want to explore how competition helps divide and distribute the work of a community. Our skills extend far beyond those initial judgments of who is the most skilled or sexiest hooper. I find myself thinking about our meet-up last weekend, because in the days before I was so preoccupied with how I would measure up to the folks I met. However once I got there I realized being non-competitive is easier in practice than in my head. Watching hoopers drift in and out of camp I really glimpsed our diversity. Some gals are always hooping, others pick up the hoop for short bursts. Some know lots of tricks, others make waist hooping a fascinating dance. Outside the circle I met folks who organize, folks who share their booze, folks who teach, and folks who can identify the rocks we find along the creek bed.
All those unique skills strengthen and enrich our community. Competition gives us each the space and opportunity to use our energy where it is needed most, doing work we do best. As a community we must continue to be mindful that competition doesn’t create a mire or envy or elitism and I believe acknowledging competition, rather than denying it, is an important first step.
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