I reached out to the juggling groups in hopes to discuss their juggling experiences! They were extremely nice over emailed and two of the members responded with detailed, big-picture answers to my questions, which is exactly what I was looking for. Their names are Alison Wattman and Dave Gilles.

When I asked Alison about the skills needed to juggle, she responded, "Hand eye coordination and lots of patience. Persistence: a willingness to fail over and over and over until you get it right." I have been described as an annoyingly persistent person on multiple occasions, so hearing the importance of a skills I acquire in juggling was relieving. I am usually a very encouraged and passionate person and have found that that's the best way to achieve my goals. I'm really excited to further explore the challenges juggling presents! Alison writes, "Other than that, juggling helped me practice persistence, gave me confidence, and taught me about "letting go" and not judging yourself. When you fail in front of an audience, you can either freak out and obsess over it, as I used to the first year of performing professionally, or you can learn how to move on gracefully and "let it go". That was a hard one to learn, and truthfully I'm still in the process of fully embodying that one".

Alison also told me about how juggling has contributed to her community. Not only is it her career, she also mentions how she has made many close friends from juggling. Juggling, or other similar interests, create a sense of community that can unite people. I think she brings up a really interesting point!

Dave Gilles also makes a really interesting point about juggling' contribution to society. He writes, "Come to think of it juggling can be annoying too if it's presented like "look what I can do and you can't." And for some reason jugglers seem to like puns, which some people find annoying. We in Give and Take have always approached it as, "this is really fun and do you want to learn?" So is it good for society? I guess it is in the sense of sharing something fun with others, and discovering the joy of working hard at something and finally getting it." Both Alison and Dave agree that juggling brings people together.

And come to think of it, I have found the same thing. Learning how to juggle has already brought me closer to my water polo coach, Greg, because he was one of the reasons why I decided to learn. It has also be proven to be a fun activity to showcase when hanging out with my friends. They get to laugh at me and then I get to teach them how to juggle when they get over how silly I look. The feeling of being able to share what you have learned with others and have them be excited as well is indescribable. I am so happy that juggling has opened such opportunities for myself and my community.

So all in all, emailing and hearing back from experienced jugglers will not only help my skill and knowledge, but it also made me aware of the world around me. Small and simple activities, such as juggling, can make such a huge impact on your community.

So. You think you can juggle? I think you can too. We all can, and we all can live happier lives because of that.

Pce out and I'll see you soon to discuss my progress with "the Shower" (yikes)

Juggle it up!!

Anna