ASEAN IRREGULARS! Day 1 - Arrival

Ahhhhh.

The day has finally arrived - the first day of ASEAN IRREGULARS! Our Future Beyond Borders!!!

I think the last time I took on a project this big was… gosh… I don’t know… I guess there was that class I taught in college but in a way, because it was spread out over 13 weeks it didn’t feel as intense as this full 8-day programme, yknow?

But of course, even though this is arguably more intense (or not, unclear, perhaps memory fails me), a major difference is that it is a TEAM EFFORT!! I am soooooo grateful to -

Alicia, my programme co-lead handling the essential task of logistics management

Adani doing every single random task I assign her hahaha

Daryl who is not only on the night shift but has also taken on the video/photog director role even though he has his own youth programme he’s planning

Mya designing the programme booklet and managing stakeholders for the marketing collaterals

My dear facilitators Ashley, Ivy, Megh, Syah and Zahra running our workshops and taking care of delegates!!

And of course, Sheila, RVI’s fearless leader who is such a reliable figure who always has our backs, who has done so much to make this programme happen, who really has the most capacity of any other human being I know LOL

Wew. Impossible, impossible without everyone. Big thank you to the dear team.

Ah it’s only day one but this post is already starting to sound like the end of programme thank yous HAHA (and this isn't even mentioning all our workshop and learning journey hosts yet), well, rest assured everyone and MORE will be thanked again, continuously, gratitude is a daily practice!!

Speaking of gratitude - I also just want to express my gratitude for every single Irregular who signed up and showed up for the programme today.

Meeting up with friends this past month, I've been telling them about this programme I'm organising, and for some reason, it surprises me that they are surprised about it.

They ask me - what is this? Who are the people coming? Why would anyone choose to spend 8 days doing an immersive programme like this?

I'm surprised because, why not?

Why shouldn't we have dedicated time and space for deep learning and engagement, to come together to imagine what a future beyond borders could look like? We should have more of this actually HAHAHA in my humble opinion anyway......

I'm honoured to share this space with all 20 of you, our delegates, and I'm looking forward to learning with and from you!

As part of the programme we’re encouraging delegates to do daily reflections because this is going to be a transformative time of learning and it'll help to document each step of the journey so we can remember what happened and look back on how we've grown - I know it will be transformative for myself as well so I’ll try my best to keep up with the daily posts too. (It’s day 1. We’ll see. Hahahaha.)

Today's prompt was -

What is 1 thing I want to call in?

What is 1 thing I want to let go off?

What is 1 reminder for myself for the upcoming week?

Hmm.

In this moment, I'm calling in my full, authentic self. I want to show up every single day of the programme fully present and grounded as my true self.

I'm letting go of the fear of making "mistakes" - I really want the programme to be a good experience for everyone TT_TT As I write this I suppose I'm realising that perhaps I also want to let go of this pressure I'm putting on myself, which leads me to the reminder -

I'm reminding myself to trust in everyone, including myself!! We create the space together, so it's unreasonable for me to think that I can single-handedly "ensure a good experience for everyone" - in a way, that's ego talking, isn't it? Haha. I'm naming it and letting it go gently~

I can only do my best in every moment, and trust that everyone else is too. (Not "best" in the ~best productive outcomes sense~ but best in the, I'm listening, I'm staying engaged, I'm reaching for mutual connection with good intentions)

I feel very affirmed after hearing from everyone during our Community Agreements session! Looking forward to continuing to build trust and getting to know each other ;v;

Day 1! We have arrived!