Stav or MacDonalds?
Published: Thu, 02/27/14
This week I have been working at the front of 3 to 5 South Street,
Crewkerne replacing the front panel above the window. Not a small
task since it is about 12 metres long and over 70 cm deep. It is
going to look an awful lot better when it is done. I am having to
be careful because quite a lot of people walk past and I don't
want to drop a hammer or a lump of wood on anyone's head . The
nice part is that people do stop and have a look at what is going
on and have a chat. Lots of people are curious about what is going
on and so Venetia or I suggest that they come along on Tuesday
evenings to the foundation class and find out for themselves. On
Monday evening just as we were locking up after the Advanced
Weapons Class we saw a young man and woman out walking a very small
Chihuahua dog. They had stopped by the poster inside the window
and the young woman was reading about the classes.
I called out, "Beginners classes on Tuesday evenings."
and the young woman sounded interested, the young man asked how
much classes were and when I said £6 per class immediately
responded that he could not afford that. The young woman shot
back, "If you didn't spend your money on McDonalds then
you could." At this the young man admitted that he had been
known to spend £15 in McDonalds, "When I get
depressed." he claimed.
Of course the problem with getting people to Stav classes isn't
really money per se. If I had some source of income which meant
that I could provide a Stav centre without having to charge people
for classes and courses at all it would not necessarily mean that
any more people would come. In fact it may well put some people
off. We all know instinctively that there is no such thing as a
free lunch, or as it says in the Havamal in stanza 145 'A gift
always looks to a gift.' . So there would have to be some
reason for giving away Stav training and while some people are
always grabbing whatever is going for free most people know that a
clear financial transaction is simpler and more honest. The other
thing is that the money paid for classes and courses isn't the
only cost of doing Stav. In fact it is a relatively small part of
the cost in time, effort, concentration, travel and commitment
necessary to train successfully. One of the dangers of making
anything too cheap financially is that the associated costs look
that much bigger, and thus more daunting by comparison. So for
example if a two day course is going to cost £1000 for the
basic course fee (not at all uncommon for many teachers, especially
in the business world) and travel and accommodation is going to be
£300 then once someone has made their mind up that the course
is worth £1000 then the other £300 isn't going to
bother them too much. But if the same course is available for say,
£70 then the £300 cost of travel and accommodation is
going to be very off putting even if the £70 was easily
afforded.
Course on the 8th of March in Salisbury. £35 for a day
training or £20 if you are an Ice and Fire member. I will be
looking at how to train in Stav, how to incorporate the stances
into your life and learn to see the web. It will also be an
opportunity to train with other people, some of whom have got a lot
of Stav experience. You can see more details and find booking link
at http://www.iceandfire.org.uk/train.html If you can't come I
would be interested to know why. If you are in another country
then you are excused but if you are within reasonable reach of
Salisbury I would like to know why you are not coming. Be honest,
if I am charging too much or the day is too long or I am just not
making it interesting enough then I would like to know. Of course
you might be going to MaDonalds instead.
regards
Graham