Written byCui Yu-Wei, Student of the Academy, Leader of the Team "Yuru" Group.
"Do you remember when you said home is the only castle?" The speech began with this line from Jay Chou's song "Rice Field." HoweverChen Shi-Pengan alumna from our university's Department of Human Development, wasn't so sure about the meaning of this phrase. Through her team, "Chicken Soup Is Here," and their previous exhibition titled "Are You a Home Hater?", they discovered that "home aversion" has become a common phenomenon today. However, they still hope to break through people's stereotypical views of home through understanding and dialogue, and to build stable relationships with family members. Their goal is not only to improve family relationships but also to help establish various interpersonal connections.
"Relationships are like a pot of chicken soup, requiring slow simmering," is the philosophy of the "Chicken Soup Is Here" team, which echoes psychologist John Gottman's belief that "the most important thing in a stable relationship is truly understanding each other." And true understanding requires both "knowing oneself" and "understanding others." To start, the speaker had us share with our group members, "What animal do you think you are, and why?" as a warm-up activity. While I felt a bit awkward during the sharing, I also really enjoyed this way of getting to know each other. This is because people are often open to interpretation, and through this small activity, I had the opportunity to slightly interpret myself.
Next, we dove into the main event of the board game session. The "Chicken Soup Is Here" team designed a game called "Ask the Secret Realm" to help participants better "know themselves" and "understand others." The game requires participants to constantly ask questions, interact, and cooperate to find the final "treasure." Throughout the game, as we took turns answering quirky and unusual questions, it became easier to participate and quickly discover aspects of others that they might not typically reveal. However, I realized that this game particularly requires participants to engage sincerely and generously. Otherwise, it could lead others to think they've truly gotten to know you, while unintentionally creating more barriers to interpersonal interactions.
After the gameCEO Chen Shi-Pengintroduced the "Johari Window" theory, developed by American social psychologists Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham. This theory divides a person's inner world into four areas—Open Self, Blind Self, Hidden Self, and Unknown Self—based on the dimensions of "known" and "unknown" to oneself and others. These four parts are not fixed; through "self-disclosure" and "feedback from others," the "Open Self" can gradually expand. The benefit of this is smoother interpersonal communication and even greater personal happiness. After explaining this theory, the senior student handed out a personality trait sheet for us to circle our own traits as well as those of others. This activity allowed us to glimpse how others perceive us and offered an opportunity to adjust our self-awareness, making it a very interesting experience.
At the end of the lectureCEO Chen shareda story about a father and son playing the "Ask the Secret Realm" board game. Through one of the questions in the game, the son learned that his father likes to be shown affection through hugs. At the end of the game, the father and son finally expressed "I love you" to each other after a long time, and both were moved to tears. This story left a deep impression on me. Perhaps in some relationships, we tend to be too repressed and dishonest, but maybe, after taking that step, we can develop a more stable and comfortable relationship that both parties long for. So, no matter the approach, perhaps we should all try to break the stalemate in our relationships, because as the speaker said, "I hope everyone can interact well and love each other in the limited time we have."
CEO Chen Shi-Peng's words of encouragement to the academy students: "Love yourself, love others, and live life well."
Link to the news report by our campus reportershttps://pr.ntnu.edu.tw/news/index.php?mode=data&id=20682
