{"id":336,"date":"2020-03-28T17:42:54","date_gmt":"2020-03-28T21:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/?p=336"},"modified":"2020-03-28T19:11:20","modified_gmt":"2020-03-28T23:11:20","slug":"virtual-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/?p=336","title":{"rendered":"Virtual Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"960x0\"<\/a>We pushed the stuffed furniture back against the walls, positioned the iPad on a plant stand in front of us, instructed the dog to \u2018just watch\u2019, (well, OK, a downward dog is allowed) and settled ourselves for our first, virtual yoga class. A little hesitantly at first, our \u2018classmates\u2019, usually arrayed in a loose circle of chairs in the \u2018Social Room\u2019 \u2014 ain\u2019t that a loaded term nowadays \u2014 appeared on screen. Each \u2018popped in\u2019 as the array of little squares containing one or perhaps two of us grew and was overlaid on the \u2018main screen\u2019 of our instructor. Her own shoulders visibly lowered in relief as her aging charges all navigated the technology of the changing landscape. A subtitle for our chair yoga class floated through my mind, unexpressed: Zooming with the Zoomers.<\/p>\n

This has been a very virtual week<\/strong> \u2014 as I expect it has been for a great many of us. Community and governmental suggestions<\/em> morphed and escalated through guidelines<\/em> to mandated behaviour<\/em> as the realities of, the necessity for social distancing sank in. Just short of \u2018violations\u2019 being tagged and fined \u2014 for now. <\/p>\n

Even if one was committed to \u2018going off grid\u2019, the constant barrage of updates, notices, posters, emails, broadcasts, news from all platforms pretty much ensures that we stay \u2018in the loop\u2019. It\u2019s been hard to find silver linings in the darkness and relentlessness of these spreading awarenesses. One candidate however, born of need in the present but quite possibly containing the seeds of future practice, is the astoundingly abrupt but near seamless shift to a virtual world. <\/p>\n

Two of the musicians in the family, both with passions and careers revolving around their director\u2019s rolls at their respective churches, in a matter of days have launched projects built around bringing music to the people \u2014 if the people can\u2019t come to the music. Choristers are diligently rehearsing the parts, compliantly socially distanced at home. The aggregate will be blended and synched; ultimately \u2018aired\u2019 as a virtual choir, accessible to an audience, a \u2018congregation\u2019 numbering not in the 10\u2019s or 100\u2019s \u2014 but 1000\u2019s, and more. (If you haven\u2019t had the pleasure, have a look and listen at the potential that lies therein:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=D7o7BrlbaDs<\/a><\/p>\n

Having moved communities recently, my wife had \u2018left behind\u2019 two much valued music teachers, friends as much as pedagogues. One had embraced the digital lesson; the other had demurred. Now, yielding to the \u2018mother\u2019 (of invention), he\u2019s not only relented, but welcomed the shift to a platform that has brought with it the unanticipated perks of attentionally-challenged students now staying focused, his piano bench no longer adorned with discarded gum on its underside, and a helicoptering parent unable to swoop low as wee Johnny\u2019s lower lip starts to quiver. <\/p>\n

Closer to home (oops, sounds like a double, no, triple entendre), with our change of cities, I too had moved away from my \u2018client base\u2019. NQRTR (not quite ready to retire), I had dabbled with on-line appointments. However, I remained unconvinced: without my physical presence, how could therapy be more than a faded watermark of the \u2018real deal\u2019. Again, mamma came a callin\u2019 \u2014 with more invention. <\/p>\n

The landscape was now one of on-line<\/em> or take down the shingle<\/em>. I opted to watch a preparatory webinar (supplanting the scheduled \u2018in person\u2019 workshop \u2014 go figure!). Amongst all the usual pointers around lighting, not being undone by the half-empty wine bottles on the table and the four-year old walking thru\u2019 with his bowl of Cap\u2019n Crunch, and technology failure, there were some stats: on-line not only is as effective as in-person, but offers benefits on both sides of the virtual desk: ease of access and increased comfort levels for the client, holding appointments in my button down Oxford cloth shirt, sport coat. . . and sweat shorts (what\u2019s under the desk is my<\/em> business!). I\u2019m in!<\/p>\n

Gradually the subtext was sinking in. If necessity is the mother of invention, then crisis is the sib of creative solution. Wherever this interlude (and we must hope that that\u2019s what it is) may take us, COVID-19 has spawned some very sustainable directions and promising practices for the future. The virtual world is not just an amusing entertainment accessible by donning a weird pair of goggles, a poor sister to \u2018the real deal\u2019, a stopgap until things \u2018get back to normal\u2019. As I\u2019m so fond of (and, I expect reviled for) saying to folks \u2018adjusting\u2019 to a situation that we both know will not resolve, this is the new normal<\/em>. We can tolerate it, resist it, deny it, wait it out. Or we can manage it, engage it, and accept the (very real) teaching points it offers. Our choice \u2014 at a time when it feels like we have none. Oh yeah, and let’s keep washing our hands for two full verses of Happy Birthday!<\/p>\n

And one more:
\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=5rzZ2F18MwI<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We pushed the stuffed furniture back against the walls, positioned the iPad on a plant stand in front of us, instructed the dog to \u2018just watch\u2019, (well, OK, a downward dog is allowed) and settled ourselves for our first, virtual yoga class. A little hesitantly at first, our \u2018classmates\u2019, usually arrayed in a loose circle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=336"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":345,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336\/revisions\/345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}