 In the early days the peer work presented by our young volunteers, was very focused on health issues - “sex and drugs and rock ‘n roll”. However within a short time, it began to dawn on us that although our performances were nicely convenient for the school curriculum, and certainly entertaining for the pupils, we were probably having little impact in causing any real change either in the lives of the children and young people we worked with, or within the system that we felt was failing them. We stopped, reflected and realised that the issues (safe-sex, substance mis-use etc) were actually not the issue at all. We wanted to work with cause rather than effect.
Low self –esteem, lack of insight, insufficient understanding and denial regarding the emotional realm figured high as causal factors in regard to self-abusive behaviour patterns. We were witnessing increasing cases of self-harm, depression, eating disorders, substance abuse etc. and our work with mental health service users was on the increase.
Our new mission statement
“Theatr Fforwm Cymru takes a unique, holistic approach to emotional learning, in a bold, creative and accessible way”
became our vanguard. This felt much more honest but inevitably caused havoc with our funding streams: we no longer fitted neatly in the box. We began to negotiate with schools to set up projects with pupils that allowed them to explore their inner lives and the emotions that they were experiencing, particularly those that adversely affected their thinking and behaviour. Soon, however, we were being channelled towards the so-called dis-engaged pupils and found ourselves once more within an identifiable funding stream, but with a loss of integrity. Again we were being pigeon holed, again we re-grouped.
The popularity of Daniel Goleman’s bestseller “Emotional Intelligence” greatly helped our efforts and gave us the “hanger” we needed. As a result we fund-raised ourselves and began to undertake a series of emotional literacy projects. This work continues and is developing, as does the dissemination of this by our provision of training both in Wales and further afield as in the ECU-Net training in Europe and the Grundtvig, “Adventures in Forum Theatre” publication.
This work pack represents the next stage in our journey and gives us the opportunity to ground the experience of the last 14 years and to share our methods, approaches and discoveries with others.
So, what is Emotional Intelligence?
“Anyone can become angry – that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree , at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way – this is not easy”
Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics
Daniel Goleman uses this quote from Aristotle at the beginning of his 1995 book “Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ” and it remains as one of the best observations of just what Emotional Intelligence (EI) is.
John Mayer who, along with Peter Salovey, developed the theory of emotional intelligence, talks about EI as being the ability to be “aware of both our moods and our thoughts about that mood” (1993). So being “Emotionally Intelligent” or “Emotionally Literate” means having a great awareness of and connection to our emotions, as well as being able to understand, communicate and manage these fluctuating emotional states in a way that enhances and enriches our lives, rather than detracting from them or even destroying them.
Who are we without our emotions? They give colour and meaning to our lives. They enable us to experience the rich pallet of life, including love, joy, happiness, sadness, wonder, fear, anger and jealousy. What would a meal with close friends and family mean without the accompanying warm joy of being accepted and being with loved ones (or the anxiety/anger of not being accepted amongst those loved ones!)? How would we protect ourselves from imminent danger without the emotions of anger and fear to protect us by finding ways of surviving and fighting?
Emotions enable us to remember and experience events in a tangible, emotive and subjective way, rather than just the facts of a situation. How many of us are able to recall the smell or sounds of a situation and the feelings they evoke – the smell of suncream evoking a happy family holiday for instance? Our experiences and memories would be 2D without the added dimension of emotions to colour them. We would be automatons, moving through life in a functional, meaningless way.
However, despite the richness that emotions bring to our lives, unfortunately many of us can be victims to their effects. Expressions such as “losing your temper”, “feeling overwhelmed”, “paralysed by fear” indicate how we can become engulfed and hi-jacked by our emotions. On a basic survival level, these reactions are necessary, known as the “flight, fight or freeze” responses to potential life threatening situations. However, for most of us, living in the 21st century we don’t often encounter life threatening events, and yet our emotions respond as if we are doing. The upshot means that instead of enriching our lives, our emotional responses can make them miserable.
This is why, for us at Theatr Fforwm Cymru (ThFfC), Emotional Intelligence has become the foundation for all we do. We believe totally in supporting ourselves and others to increase our ability to feel, recognise, communicate, manage, remember and learn from our own emotions and apply them appropriately and with self awareness to our day to day lives. As Aristotle observed, it isn’t easy, and the reality is that the development of each person’s individual EI relies on their own unique brain structure, hormonal balances at different times of the month and during different stages of their lifetimes (for both men and women!), their own unique life experiences and memories - and then applying all that to the random and diverse mix of external, daily occurrences. This is something that a significant number of people are ill equipped to do, as the incidences of conflict, mental health issues, unhappiness and poor achievement in our society aptly demonstrates.
However, with the right opportunities and the right spaces to explore our own Emotional Intelligence, we can be empowered to enjoy the richness of existing as an emotional being!.
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