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Being the Fall Girl

Falling backward from a four-feet-high structure and hitting a concrete floor, the head would end up with plenty of severe injuries. Nobody would ever do that purposely, except in a trust-fall, with a strong net of hands to sturdily catch you.

In the ACT ONE leadership program, we have an annual traditional event called Camp CES when all new and current ACT ONE members have an overnight retreat. During the course of the night, we work together to build trust among ourselves. Since new members are coming in, trust is a very important factor. We learn early on that trust is one of the key factors of working together.

Each year we have plenty of activities, but the one that stands out the most is always the trust-fall. Everyone must put their lives, literally, in the arms of the people standing under them. Each new member steps up onto a four-feet-high structure, expecting eight to twelve spotters to catch them by only laying their arms out, parallel to each other.

Before they fall backwards into that space, each new member says their name and then: “I trust you with my life.” The spotters reply that they will catch them. Then the “faller” keeps their arms tucked in and their back straight and falls.

I still remember the first Camp CES I went to. At first, it was sort of weird being a room full of people I didn’t really know. Just walking up the hill towards Coit Tower gave me the chills. All the current members were scaring me about the whole thing. They said that a couple of years ago, a member ended up in the hospital with eight stitches on the side of her head. At that point, I didn’t want to go on but I did it anyway. It took me a couple of times to fall back correctly because I was shaking and was afraid that they wouldn’t catch me. Finally, I did it. The feeling was indescribable — I felt great.

It is important that the spotters have a strong and confident voice to persuade the “faller” to trust. If the trust-fall is successful, no one will get hurt and trust will be built among everyone who participated. This simple activity builds up trust, friendship, security and helps to create a comfortable work environment. Although many times while we are doing our work — especially the hard work of producing a radio show each week — there might be disagreements and arguments. But the trust we built early on makes a difference.

I still trust all the people I work with. By trusting them I’ve gained friendship and confidence. In the real world there are no games to play to build trust. Either in a relationship, family or at work we should all work hard to learn ways to trust one another.