I will re-blog this one as well. It is for Kathy who is my favourite person and makes each day Valentine Day
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We have geniuses in our midst in every time including ours. Sometimes we fail to acknowledge that genius. The other important thing we fail to acknowledge is the beauty of all work. Michelangelo worked physically, cognitively, spiritually, and emotionally. It was a holistic practice.
Happy Valentine Day
We sometimes look at our problems as problems. They inhibit our growth when we look at them that way. They should enable us and make us better stronger people. We need help to do that. Life is not lived in alone. It could be lived somewhat in solitude, but sharing is vital.
This is an incredible post with beautiful imagery and a message for each us to enter the day with.
Signs by Five Man Electrical Band is a song from my era and it was one that has always stuck with me. The message is one about rhetoric of the message as opposed to living the message. The song might be more appropriate today than ever in the material and superficial world we are surrounded by. Another reason I like the song is this was a Canadian band.
I am a little slow this morning. I enjoyed my time at Teacher’s Convention and three of the presentations were outstanding, I found a new favourite restaurant and walked a lot. The fourth presentation was pretty good. What uplifts my spirit seemed a great way to start the day.
More and more, I think this is true. We need to be in relationship in this world with others and the world we live in.
This might be my favourite Mary Oliver poem. I ran across it early in my doctoral journey and the lines: “Oh, good scholar, I say to myself, how can you help but grow wise with such teachings as these.” I stopped and took stock of the person I was and continue to reflect on the question Parker Palmer asks, “Who is the self that teaches?” Or, the paraphrase: “Who is the person who lives this life?” I pause, breathe, and attempt to be mindful of all “the untrimmable light of the world, the ocean’s shine, and the prayers that are made out of grass.” As Thich Nhat Hanh advises, turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.
“Every day
I see or hear
something
that more or less
kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle
in the haystack
of light.
It was what I was born for –
to look, to listen,
to lose myself
inside this soft world –
to instruct myself
over and over
in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,
the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant –
but of the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,
the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar,
I say to myself,
how can you help
but grow wise
with such teachings
as these –
the untrimmable light
of the world,
the ocean’s shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?”
~ Mary Oliver
Valerie posted a wonderful article yesterday about peace. I was reminded of the roots of the term “walk the talk”. It comes from the work of John Woolman, a Quaker, who walked and shared his belief that owning slaves in the 13 Colonies and then the US was immoral and God would disapprove. Parker Palmer tells this story in his books. The reference to the Shaker hymn, “Simple Gifts” brought to mind the writings about peace of Thomas Merton, the Trappist Monk, who is seen by many as instrumental in the the contemporary peace movement although he passed away in 1969. Valerie’s last reference was to Thich Nhat Hanh, the Zen monk, who has written about peace that begins with me and extends outwards. Have a beautiful and peaceful day.
Last night I read a novel by a distinguished prizewinning writer. I polished it off in a few hours, turned over and went to sleep.
This morning I awoke thinking how depressing it was… not one man or woman who was inspirational, kind, or good – everyone ambivalent and self-absorbed. And then I remembered one peripheral historical character, whose real life contribution to the care of the wounded in World War One is one of the more fascinating true stories of that time. He was a man of integrity, compassion and genuine goodness.
And as I thought about him, I could feel my whole body relaxing, and a smile on my face. I thought to myself how much I love reading about goodness.
I thought about Mildred Norman, the Peace Pilgrim, that amazing woman who for twenty-eight years walked the length and breadth of the States seven times. She…
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I had a conversation yesterday about a lack of resiliency amongst some of the younger people. It is good to provide a place to land, but sometimes people need to come out of the cocoon and skin their knees. This Elisabeth Kübler-Ross quote points that out. I think of the people I know that I admire and many of them are incredibly resilient people who bounce back.
ivonprefontaine
Teacher as Transformer 