Absolut 2009

I'm rewriting an intro to the camp. And I look back at the old post for inspiration.
Some things are apparent. We all change. I've changed. Progressed (i hope).

Inspired pioneers of the camp dropped the "e" in the name of the camp to symbolise that nothing is absolute. I try to understand this more as I'm re-organising the camp again. Being psychology-trained, i wasn't quite satisfied with the idea, and try to dig deeper. To be very brief about personality theories, i believe some parts of our personality are very core and hard to change, meanwhile, we can be very different in various domains of our life, or behaviour. This "difference in various domains" now helps me to understand why nothing is absolute about ourselves. And contributing to this unpredictability is that we have not fully understand what domains there are, how they interact with each other, or how various environment influence our domains, and perhaps, we do not have any insight that there are domains... We may never be able to know fully how our behaviour can manifest in the never-ending possibilties of situations. So how?

Doesn't mean we shouldn't try you know. Absolut Camp is one such tool that you can use. I believe the core strength of this camp is the opportunity for you to gain a heightened sense of self-awareness. A facilitator calls it a very Zen state. I think it's a state of very clear consciousness, where you can be very insightful, able to make meaningful relations or interpretations between ideas, and things you perceive. And for myself, in this state, i feel in control (of my emotions, memories, attention, decision-making, etc)

How is learning achieved in the camp? you are the key. it's self-directed learning. we might all be interested in you but we can only, most of the time, find out who you are already. To gain a deeper level of understanding, probably only you can make use of all your insight potential, memories, emotions, etc to gain that learning. There's no psychic or mind-readers in the camp. I apologise.

You are grouped, but why are you grouped? The group will be a resource for you. In such a setting, you can talk and discuss (clarify your thoughts, and self-disclose), you can gain feedback from others, you can gain choices and varied perspectives from these friends. The facilitative potential of a group is there. Just promise me you won't go around hurting your group members. Be open minded and be friendly. Savvy? (ha)

And let me introduce also the catalyst in your groups. We trained and assigned facilitators to your group, and they will try their best to help you and your group.

I like the fact that in this camp, learning occurs at all levels. Self-directed learning is not only for the campers, but also for the facilitators, and even for the organisers. I cannot attest for the many friends and comrades I knew from the camp, but for myself, Absolut Camp was a starting point of increased self-awareness, it wasn't just a 3 day camp for me (my 2007 testimonial).

I love to think that this camp will benefit you as much as it benefitted me. Hope to see YOU in this camp soon.

______________________________

If you are free, would you consider reading some testimonials from past campers and organiers?
Desmond is a beloved member of the Absolut Training Support Team now. He still helps out in training new batches of facilitators, and it's heartwarming to know that Absolut Camp was a spark in his undergraduate life and it helped him to take up more responsibilities and gained much more.

Also read about how Alicia gained something more for herself as she came out of her own comfort zone to fulfil her role as a facilitator. And why Wenqi enjoyed the group sessions so much, as I've said, the group was a resource for yourself.