Category Archives: Mindful Life

Capturing The Moment — Papilio multicaudata Butterfly

Posted on October 8, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Capturing The Moment — Papilio multicaudata Butterfly.

The image and the short verse in the link are spectacular. Martin Buber wrote complex prose which was poetic. His central point in his seminal work I and Thou was we become who we are in relationship with ourselves, others, and the world. He has a beautiful section about our relationship with trees. In our relationships, we become unique. We are not duplicates of anyone else.

We are who we are because of our relationships, the impact they have on us, and the sense we make of them. Sometimes, more often than not I imagine, the relationships go unnoticed and are taken-for-granted just as our uniqueness is. We become whats in the world rather than a particular who in the world. We might even fall victim to seeing ourselves as whats, as products, rather than that unique person who is only expressed in our particular whoness.

In a world driven by standardization and conformity to standards, it is difficult to find one’s voice and express one’s self through that voice.

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Posted in Community, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged community, creativity, eloquent questions, Martin Buber, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Accept Yourself

Posted on October 7, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Accept Yourself.

In a highly materialistic and competitive world, it is hard sometimes to accept who we are. My reading and writing has taken me on a detour through this as I explore what teaching means to teachers in their forming identities. There is an essential part of who we are that often goes unexplored. We often reduce to what we do, how we do it, and why we do it, but rarely let the who be revealed.

It is almost Seuss-like with the question “Who is the who that teaches or lives this life?” When we slow down and move from moment to moment, it allows us to speak to our self and listen more deeply. This conversation is a rich and deep requiring stillness and mindfulness that the busyness of daily life often prohibits. When we slow down, we touch the essential spirit of who we are without completely knowing the answer. The questions we ask open space for living and creativity.

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Posted in Mindful Life, Reflective Moments and tagged creativity, eloquent questions, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Oneness of Being

Posted on October 4, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Oneness of Being.

The article linked contains a quote from Khalil Gibran about the importance of other people in our lives. Emmanuel Levinas capitalized Other in his writing emphasizing the point.

We are incomplete without others in our lives. However, we do not always see their importance until they are out of our lives. The world and others complete who we are. We are always in relationship with someone and something.

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Posted in Community, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged community, creativity, Mindful Practice, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Simpler Times

Posted on October 3, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Simpler Times.

The Saturday Evening Post cover speaks speaks about simpler times. There is no better time than this moment. The times were simpler and I think the key to the link is the quote under the image. Our inner child is our muse.

When we live in the moment with curiosity and reverence, our inner child sees the world with wonder and awe. The other night we laughed as our grandson played with the little boy in the mirror for 5 minutes. They had a wonderful time and so did we. It reminded the world is always ready to be explored anew when we adopt the beginner’s mind.

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Posted in Community, Mindful Life, Reflective Moments and tagged beginner's mind, community, creativity, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, Saturday Evening Post, teacher as transformer, zen. Bookmark the permalink.

Inspiration Point

Posted on October 2, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Inspiration Point.

We carry umbrellas to protect us from the rain. Rain can feel soothing on the body. It cools and warms. We walk in it to gain fresh perspective on life. We splash in the puddles to recall childhood.

Walking in the rain is walking through life which the link suggests in a wonderful way. We are having a conversation as we walk in the rain listening for what life has to say. When we are mindful, we hear the wisdom in rain drops. We are living into the questions that life is.

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Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged conversational journey, creativity, eloquent questions, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, poetry, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Be a Player, not a Victim

Posted on October 1, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Be a Player, not a Victim.

We use the words responsibility and accountability interchangeably, as if they mean the same thing. Certainly, the two words are connected in ways, but providing a response and being responsible are internal emerging from the person. Acc0untability is external. Someone else makes a judgement about our words and actions.

Accountability also connects as we give an account of our self. We describe who we are in giving this account. We take responsibility for who we are, what we say, and what we do. We take responsibility for how we are living in both telling and living our personal story.

Accountability suggests someone is more expert than we are in living our lives. It also suggests that there is a certainty about this expertise.

Machado wrote “Wanderer, your footsteps are the road, and nothing more; wanderer there is not road, the road is made by walking.” We accept responsibility for walking the road one step at a time in the company of others.

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Posted in Community, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged Antonio Machado, community, conversational journey, creativity, mindfulness, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Personal Legend: Life Lessons from Dancing

Posted on September 30, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Personal Legend: Life Lessons from Dancing.

The link begins with a quote from Paulo Coehlo about finding meaning in life. It becomes our personal legend when we find those things that add to our lives. We are remembered for dancing, teaching, singing, etc; whatever brings us and others joy.

The linked article ends with a poem from Joseph Campbell. He began the poem with “follow your bliss.” When we do, we find our voice and speak through our lives.

Parker Palmer and Thomas Merton pointed out voice and vocation are linked in etymology. They come from a place deep within us. We don’t even have to chase it. We only have to sit, be still, be quiet and our voice finds us. When it finds us, we dance as our voice accompanies us finding what brings meaning and joy in our lives and the lives of those we dance with.

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Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged creativity, eloquent questions, Joseph Campbell, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, Parker Palmer, Paulo Coehlo, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer, Thomas Merton. Bookmark the permalink.

Clever or Wise?

Posted on September 29, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Clever or Wise?.

I spent two days on a break of sorts. I intended to post something late Saturday afternoon, but spent the day and good portion of the evening being a minion to our 5 month old grandson.

He is getting to the age where he can play games i.e. peek-a-boo and he recalls that he has played the game with you. When I walked into the house on Sunday, he smiled and wanted to play.

Small things and children help us grow and become wise. We want to change our self because it is the best way to change the world we come in contact with. We blend the passion for life with compassion, because without the integration we are incomplete.

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Posted in Community, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged community, creativity, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, poetry, Rumi, sabbath, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Travel Theme: Inviting

Posted on September 27, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Travel Theme: Inviting.

Some of the reading I have done for my dissertation has focused on the idea that teaching is an invitation into learning. I recall cold Alberta days when I would take out books and read. I never left the warm confines of the house, yet I traveled the world.

Teaching and learning are invitational. The John Muir quote in Ese’s post is easily reworded. It is not just the mountains calling. It is the world and the universe. Subjects come alive and speak to us when they hold meaning.

Teaching cannot guarantee learning. What it can do is provide spaces where learning happens as students find the subjects speaking to them. We, in turn, respond and a life-long conversations are struck up. Living and learning entangle and are inseparable.

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Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged conversational journey, creativity, Educational Leadership, John Muir, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, poetry, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

A Shining Lamp

Posted on September 26, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

A Shining Lamp.

When we live in right ways, we are shining lamps for the world and others in the world. Being compassionate allows us to reach past our ignorance and support those in need, sentient and non-sentient, in the moment.

This theme of being a shining lamp crosses cultural and religious boundaries. Jesus referred to lighting a lamp and not hiding it. When we live a life revealing who we are touching the world in compassionate ways, we bring others into the light. Being aware and present in the world allows us to feel world’s needs. We become one in those needs sharing with all phenomena in new ways. Our ignorance falls away pushing past human imposed boundaries between each other.