Category Archives: Community

Old Habits

Posted on December 10, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

The picture at Kenne’s post drew me in with questions about old habits. What are the person’s old habits? Is he someone’s old habit?

We wear habits in a way. There is a corporal nature to them including ways we conduct ourselves, think about ourselves and the world. This corporeal nature, habitus, is connected to the word habitat. We inhabit habits and they inhabit us.

When we look in the mirror and see ourselves, perhaps we see the habits in a taken-for-granted way. They just are part of us. Or, do we have someone who is our mirror? Someone who helps us see who we are in clearer way with their honesty and candor?

In Buddhism, others can serve as mirrors. Sometimes, it is in their silence we find ourselves become clearer. Certainly, there is still a graininess to the image and a smokey filter but mirrors help dissipate the graininess and smokiness. The external ordering becomes a patient, compassionate internal ordering.

6 Comments

Posted in Community, Mindful Life, Photography, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Uncategorized and tagged Bertrand Russell, Buddhism, community, conversational journey, creativity, eloquent questions, habits, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

The Warmth of Gratitude

Posted on December 6, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

The Warmth of Gratitude.

When we measure happiness based on material wealth, we miss the importance it plays in living a grateful life.

Today, Kathy and I discussed how the ordinary is in the extraordinary. It is there. When we pause, it reveals itself. Thich Nhat Hanh wrote about being present and mindful when drinking tea is an act of gratitude. We are grateful for the work that created the tea, the cup, the pot, the energy, etc.

Emmanuel Levinas proposed ethics as an event preceding and succeeding this particular time and place. In this sense, space knows no temporal and spatial boundaries. I am grateful for what preceded this moment in drinking tea, what succeeds this moment, and the gift sent from many places by others who are taking responsibility for my tea drinking without knowing me.

16 Comments

Posted in Community, Mindful Life, Reflective Moments, Sabbath, Uncategorized and tagged community, creativity, Emmanuel Levinas, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, teacher as transformer, Thich Nhat Hanh. Bookmark the permalink.

Kiss the Earth

Posted on December 2, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Kiss the Earth.

I will let you read the lovely poem by Thich Nhat Hanh which is at the link.

When we step gently, it is like kissing the earth with our feet and thanking it for supporting it.

When we live in each moment in peace, the peace radiates out from us.

When we touch each other with kindness, the world is a better space.

11 Comments

Posted in Community, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged blogging, community, conversational journey, creativity, Kiss the Earth, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer, Thich Nhat Hanh. Bookmark the permalink.

Behind the Thunder

Posted on November 30, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Mark Nepo is well-known for spiritual prose, but he writes very good poetry.

In this wonderful poem, he reminds me I am looking in the wrong place for the teacher. The teaching is in what is in the environment at a given time and in a given context. Am I willing and able to open up to what is taught? Do I sit in silence and listen to the world as it speaks in me?

I must not be swept away by the environment and my emotions. When I am mindful and present, I am aware of both gifts and dangers. I watch for what is behind the thunder internally and externally.

I keep looking for one more teacher,
only to find that fish learn from water
and birds learn from sky.

If you want to learn about the sea,
it helps to be at sea.
If you want to learn about compassion,
it helps to be in love.
If you want to learn about healing,
it helps to know of suffering.

The strong live in the storm
without worshiping the storm.

16 Comments

Posted in Community, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged Behind the Thunder, conversational journey, creativity, Mark Nepo, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Simplicity, Patience, Compassion

Posted on November 28, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Simplicity, Patience, Compassion.

The link is to a short poem written by Lao Tzu. The world is a complex place, but nature operates in simple ways. Because of this, the phenomena we experience and how we experience their essence is not easily revealed.

Being mindful requires patience. It takes time to see the extraordinary in the ordinary. It is there and it speaks to us when we stop and listen with our heart. When we are patient, we can show our gratitude for those things that slip by unnoticed in life’s busyness.

Being patient, begins with showing compassion for ourselves. Without this compassion, we can hardly expect to care for the world, sentient and non-sentient, we continuously encounter. Being patient and compassionate, allows us to be grateful for what we experience, our living.

14 Comments

Posted in Community, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Uncategorized and tagged community, compassion, creativity, Lao Tzu, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, patience, poetry, simplicity, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Think of Others

Posted on November 26, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Mahmoud Darwish wrote this poem in a way that stands out for me. He bracketed every second line as a gentle reminder to remember those who have less than us.

Canadians and Americans celebrate Thanksgiving at different times, but part of the celebrating is thinking about the good fortune we have and how others may be missing what we call good fortune.

Perhaps, the measure is not material. Perhaps, the measure is in those people and things that are immeasurable.

As you prepare your breakfast, think of others
(do not forget the pigeon’s food).
As you wage your wars, think of others
(do not forget those who seek peace).
As you pay your water bill, think of others
(those who are nursed by clouds).
As you return home, to your home, think of others
(do not forget the people of the camps).
As you sleep and count the stars, think of others
(those who have nowhere to sleep).
As you express yourself in metaphor, think of others
(those who have lost the right to speak).
As you think of others far away, think of yourself
(say: If only I were a candle in the dark).

28 Comments

Posted in Community, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged community, creativity, Mahmoud Darwish, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer, Think of Others. Bookmark the permalink.

Wisdom

Posted on November 24, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Wisdom.

Dr. Seuss’, Theodore Geisel, books explained abstract concepts fairness, being honest, and accepting differences for children and parents. The irony was for most of his writing career he had no children of his own. It was only when he married a second time that he had two step-daughters.

Whether he intended to or not, Seuss was a social justice teacher. He introduced children and their parents with his writing to unforgettable characters who demonstrated what we could learn on Mulberry Street.

His unforgettable lyrical prose imprinted itself on children in ways they were recalled and, even if misspoken, it made little difference. After all, the words were often made up by Dr. Seuss. Perhaps, we find wisdom in our imaginations? Imagine a world where we treated each other with respect and dignity.

13 Comments

Posted in Community, Education, Leadership, Reflective Moments, Social Justice and tagged community, conversational journey, creativity, Dr. Seuss, education, eloquent questions, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, spirituality, teacher as transformer, Theorore Geisel. Bookmark the permalink.

A Smile To Remember – Charles Bukowski

Posted on November 20, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

A Smile To Remember – Charles Bukowski.

Charles Bukowski is a poet who uses wit, sarcasm, and everyday experience, good and bad, to catch my attention. In this poem, domestic violence is the topic he explored.

I don’t know if he was a product of this violence, but he provides an insight that is perhaps a survivor’s insight and poses a question that needs exploring.

What do we notice in life? Is it the trivial things? Or, is it the major things? What happens in a child’s life when she/he live in violence? What can we each do to reach out and touch the lives of those living in violence? Perhaps, it is a smile to remember making the difference.

12 Comments

Posted in 21st Century Education, Community, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Social Justice, Uncategorized and tagged Charles Bukowski, community, eloquent questions, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, senseless violence, smiles, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Day of the Imprisoned Writer: a letter to Mahvash Sabet

Posted on November 19, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Day of the Imprisoned Writer: a letter to Mahvash Sabet.

We have many people around the world who are imprisoned for their political and religious beliefs. Usually, I find when we put a face on those that are somehow different they become real and human. It is important to reach out and take the hand of those who suffer persecution at the hands of others regardless of the reasons. It is important to make people real and human.

When I did my undergraduate work, I was able to take one special education course. In the course, a point that was made several times and stuck with me was that we are more alike despite obvious differences than we are different. It is overwhelmingly so.

Do we need science to tell us the obvious? Or, can we see the humanity that lies beneath the differences we want to see?

20 Comments

Posted in Community, Education, Mindful Life, Progressive Education, Reflective Moments, Social Justice, Uncategorized and tagged community, conversational journey, creativity, eloquent questions, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

quotation: Don’t put money before everything else -Pope Francis

Posted on November 15, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

quotation: Don’t put money before everything else -Pope Francis.

In the West, this is a hard concept to understand and grasp. We need money to live and perhaps even survive. What about when money becomes our raison d’etre? What happens when money takes over our lives and, for that matter, we obsess over one thing at the expense of living?

This is an open question we should live with, embrace, and explore daily. How does our living make the living of others better? There are no easy answers. In fact, there may not be an answer. Each time we explore this question, it may pose new questions.