By Flavia Ventura

Butterflies

Go to bed, butterflies. Wake up, butterflies. Get ready, butterflies. Get the tube, butterflies. Enter St Matthews’ church, butterflies. Mentors introduce themselves, butterflies. Take notes, butterflies. Do activities, butterflies. Go on agency visits, butterflies. I could describe this first week with only one word: butterflies.

Every morning I have woken up not knowing what to expect from SCA — I probably should’ve looked at this calendar everyone is mumbling about by now. Only one thing I know: no matter what we’ll do at the school, no matter what activity, I will somehow get out of my comfort zone, I will feel butterflies in my stomach (anxiety, excitement, who knows?)

What I have learnt this week is that although doing new things can be scary, and uncomfortable, it will without a doubt be beneficial — as Bo Hellberg of Edelman taught us on Wednesday, “The magic happens out of the comfort zone”.

Before each and every lecture, activity, workshop we have done this week, I have felt quite reluctant, like if both my brain and my gut were silently screaming “Do not do it, run away”. Looking back, I am really glad I, and everybody else, didn’t actually run away. To have found the strength to overcome what we shall call small ‘fears’ is rather satisfying. It did feel awesome to get home at night and think back to all the little things we accomplish in just one single day. 

I think experiencing new things can be nothing but beneficial to us creatives. Not only it gives us new places where to ‘look for nuts’ but it also gives us the opportunity to ‘exist in multiple worlds’ which, as Malcolm Gladwell addressed in “The Tipping Point”, can be very helpful in making connections.

So get out of your comfort zone, it can only do good.

Stop worrying so much.