Monthly Archives: June 2014

poem- stand up

Posted on June 20, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Several years ago the school board I worked for locked us out. I have empathy for what teachers in other jurisdictions are going through as we spent a month locked out. We were fine. Kathy worked and we have few bills, but many others were set back by the actions which amounted to non-momentary issues i.e. class size, working conditions, and being treated as professionals. One of the underlying issues is our schools have become too large and resemble factories rather than institutions where teachers and students gather in community. There is a distancing in the very relationship that is vital to children’s education as opposed to their schooling. When I went to school, schools were embedded in the community. Today, sadly they are separate with economic and political agendas that do not meet the needs of local communities.

Shawn L. Bird

“Why are teachers even bothering to picket,

when you aren’t getting strike pay any more?”

he asked.

I told him it was because teachers are moralists

who are defending democracy

and fair working & bargaining conditions

against a corrupt government:

A government that ignores the court rulings

spends billions of tax payers’ dollars appealing

judgments by the Supreme Court

and the United Nations saying they

are WRONG to steal from our kids.

It will pay billions for a stadium roof,

but will not pay for educating its children.

I told him that in such a war,

pay is a small thing.

We will fight, because if our government

succeeds in destroying OUR union

then every other working person in this province

is in peril.

If OUR contracts can be shredded with impunity,

so can YOURS!

We are fighting for YOUR rights

and for our students’ right to a funded education

against a government with an…

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Travelling Together

Posted on June 20, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

I finished reading a book by Jacques Rancière and am reading another by Emmanuel Levinas. Their philosophic writings suggest a preexisting ethical condition exists in when encountering another person. There is an empathic quality calling humans to walk in the other’s shoes as we encounter each other.

In my dissertation, I argue a teacher’s subjectivity forms in placing themselves in relationship with others, students and topics. Rancière argued humans take part in life, and are not merely external observers at a spectacle. Teaching is relational and is one where the relating with students and topics is the matter that matters.

W.S. Merwin’s poem proposes even when separated humans can wait on the other person’s side of things. In mindfulness and attentiveness, humans place themselves in the shoes of the other. Today, as I read, talked to my advisor, and chatted with Kathy a question came to mind. What has happened in the world today that we struggle with the ethical and empathic living that might heal the world we live in?

If we are separated I will
try to wait for you
on your side of things

your side of the wall and the water
and of the light moving at its own speed
even on leaves that we have seen
I will wait on one side

while a side is there

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Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged community, creativity, Emmanuel Levinas, Jacques Ranciere, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, philosophy, poetry, teacher as transformer, Travelling Together, W. S. Merwin. Bookmark the permalink.

Happiness alighting,,,,needs cultivating everyday to appear…

Posted on June 19, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

This is a simple message with a lovely image. The image suggests a bridging between where we are in life and a lack of visibility where we are going. What brings us happiness moment to moment will alight in ways we can never anticipate. Being present and aware helps us realize that happiness.

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Sunday Thought…..

Posted on June 18, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

I realize it is Wednesday, but I think this can be any day;s thought. When surrounded by those who believe in us, it is incredible what can be accomplished.

Practical Practice Management A Division of Top Practices

Get Ready For Monday………. You Can Do It!!!!!

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What I’ve Learned From the Dark

Posted on June 18, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

When we walk in the world, we take in its beauty in some fashion. We may not notice it in the immediate moment, but taken away from us home, family, and the world are more alive. We find the hidden beauty in the stripping of skin. This beauty is beyond the skin deep of superficial which we often soak in only to find that beauty has its flaws when looked at more closely.

Julia Fehrenbacher reminds us it in disruption, as the sky pours and the sun extinguished, we find our way to deepest beauty. We find beauty and wealth in overlooked nooks and crannies noticed when the light is dimmed and absent, even briefly. The candle of the holy invites us to look more closely recognizing the overlooked uplifting the ordinary, taken-for-granted in our lives.

It seems we must be stripped

of the skin

of all we think beautiful

before we open to the kind of beauty

that can’t go away

it seems sky must pour

and howl like it will never stop

before we notice the smile

of our own forever sun. It seems

we must hunt with starving

hungry eyes before we know

this belly is and has always been

full. It seems this wall

deep in the center must be hammered down

before we let soft, breathing hands

curl in around us. Each drop

of dark carries

with it a candle of holy

light – with each miracle breath

we are invited to turn toward

the nearest whispering spark

and, like momma bird sheltering her baby – like a pebble

in stream’s safe lap

listen

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Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged creativity, hidden beauty, Julia Fehrenbacher, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, poetry, teacher as transformer, What I've Learned From the Dark. Bookmark the permalink.

astonished…or, thank you, Mary Oliver*

Posted on June 17, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Life is full of many phenomena which we should pay attention to. When we do, poetry is written and others are astonished in our astonishment.

Sirena Tales

I perch on this threshold

astonished

by my front lawn’s miracle

of birdsong

scenting the carefree breeze,

how each plant dances

gracefully

in nature’s inimitable choreography:

swaying ferns partner

emerald leaves aflutter

branches of blossoms bow grandly

then billow

to sunlit radiance

as the butterfly floats and the dragonfly whirs

resplendently entering

our enchanting soloists

remind that life’s magic

can appear at any moment

for those who will see,

yes, astonished

by my front lawn’s miracle

let me savor the succulence

June’s abundance

and add my grateful heart

to her lovely tune

*When I saw the following quotation of Mary Oliver’s sublime poetry, I was immediately inspired to write my humble offering above. Yes, let’s be astonished! And then share…

“Instructions for

living a life:

Pay attention.

Be astonished.

Tell about it.” ~Mary Oliver, “Sometimes”

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Parenting in 4 panels…

Posted on June 16, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

I always pause when certain cartoons are available. Calvin and Hobbes is one of those cartoons. There is a richness in imagination that can take us back to what was. It is somewhat accurate, but places a gentle spin with humour on the past.

Bright, shiny objects!

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Biology: A Course Review

Posted on June 14, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

I read this poem several times. It brings to life the hidden reciprocity of life. Humans take for granted the way living happens and all phenomena are co-dependent. I read a bit of Alphonso Lingis today and he pointed out life is contingent upon relationships enveloped in reciprocity placing us in vulnerable spaces in this world we cohabit with all phenomena.

Maryiln McEntyre‘s poem reminds me of the vulnerability we encounter in life without realizing it. Life is, at once and paradoxically, strong and precarious. We cannot own something we hold in common with another and others. Humans encounter life as a covenant when we accept both its strength and fragility.

If you forget what axons do,
or how a virus invades a cell,
remember this—

that light becomes food.
That the seasons rhyme,
a different word each time

turning soil into living song.
That all things work together.
Even death. Even decay.

That this is the way
of the world we got: what is given
grows by grace and care

and knows what it needs.
That life is strong, and precarious,
full of devices and desires.

That what we hold in common
may not be owned. Control
is costly. Close attention

is the reverence due
whatever lives and moves,
mutant and quick and clever.

That our neighbors—
the plankton, the white pine,
the busy nematodes–

serve us best
in reciprocal gratitude:
what they receive, they give.

The way the heart accepts
what the vein delivers and sends it on,
again. Again.

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Posted in Community, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged Alphonso Lingis, Biology: A Course Review, community, creativity, Marilyn Mcentyre, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Writing, Weddings, Rilke

Posted on June 14, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Rilke was an incredible poet. Wedding vows have covenant-like qualities. They mean something beyond the law of humans and bridges the world between people. When we open up and reach outwards, deep meaning unfolds in the relational spaces.

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It Begins With Waking Up

Posted on June 13, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

This poem speaks to the need to wake up and be present in the world. When we are, we feel the sun’s radiance kiss us and we sense the universe more completely.