So I am almost done reading Notes from the Underground by Dostoevsky and I find the themes in it very serendipitous to what I am learning in training. The main charactor is a man who's life is pathetic and constantly failing him. What this is caused by is his vanity, egotism and inability to relate to the people around him. eventually he is so iscolated that he acts desperatly and further digs himself a hole untill he finally breaks down and becomes honest with someone. Only then does he develope a genuine connection with another person. like him, we are also trying to reach connection.

How this relates to some of the allstar training we've had, is that egotism, vanity and iscolation are what can kill your relationship with not only adults and youth, but with each other. It is natural that as young leaders with strong personalities and opinions, that we might be tempted to feed our vanity and not participate because we think something is irrelavant, or withdraw from the group both physically and emotionally. But if we can choose to be vonerable then their is a chance to really make a difference in another person life. Because without the honesty that comes along with dispelling emotional vices, we are powerless against ourselves and are major contributors to our inability to relate or make a difference in another persons life. In short love thy brothers and sisters by loving yourself.