Teacher as Transformer

Quotations of logical thinking

Posted on October 7, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

This post includes some great words of wisdom to begin my week with.

These quotations are interesting; their logic excites curiosity.

What do you think?

“He reminds me of the man who murdered both his parents, and then when sentence was about to be pronounced pleaded for mercy on the grounds that he was an orphan” Abraham Lincoln

William Faulkner quotes (American short-story Writer and Novelist, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949, 1897-1962) wrote the following about injustice.

“Some things you must always be unable to bear.
Some things you must never stop refusing to bear.
Injustice and outrage and dishonor and shame.
No matter how young you are or how old you have got.
Not for kudos and not for cash.
Your picture in the paper nor money in the bank, neither.
Just refuse to bear them.”

Have we become immune to shame?

Do we no longer feel outrage and empathy for victims of crime?

Would we rather look…

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The Week End

Posted on October 6, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I was sitting in the library this afternoon and this began to form first in my head then on the screen. Usually, there is an intermediate phase and I jot something down. This was more spontaneous than normal and I think it is a bit rough around the edges, but I liked it when I re-read it.

The week end–

Sabbath arrives;

I disconnect–

I find new rhythm;

Here, I am soul full–

Here, my soul retrieves me.

It’s a mystery–

Reveals undefinable spaciousness;

Sans mots–

Without sound, it rescues me;

Yet, I hear its voice–

It offers refuge;

It guides me home.

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Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged creativity, Mindful Practice, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer, The Week Ends. Bookmark the permalink.

The English Plural

Posted on October 5, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I am fan of George Carlin and the way he used language. I know Mimi at Waiting for the Karma Truck re-blogged this for many of you. Here it is for others. Enjoy.

A Daily Thought

The English Plural by George Carlin

We’ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,

But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.

One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,

Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.

You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,

Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,

Why shouldn’t the plural of pan be called pen?

If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,

And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?

If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,

Why shouldn’t the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,

Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,

And the plural…

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The Red Wheel Barrow

Posted on October 4, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

When I make life complicated, it becomes more complicated and entangled. I felt rushed this afternoon. I have class, I needed to finish two papers, and wanted to do some reading. I took a deep breath and it got simpler. I uncomplicated my day by letting go a bit and seeing what was important right in front of me.

When I step back a bit and let life find its path, it becomes much simpler. This does not deny life’s complexity, but complexity and complicated are different. The first looks for patterns and the other ties knots around and among things. Complexity is in many ways reflected in the mirror of a simple life and what it reveals. Sometimes it is the obvious things that are right there in front of me only waiting to be acknowledged like a red wheel barrow.

In a few words, William Carlos Williams brings to life the simplicity in life which helps me wend my way through the complex relationships and patterns.

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain

water

beside the white

chickens.

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Carpe Diem Haiku Circle (provided by Lolly)

Posted on October 4, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I was preparing notes yesterday for the Eco-Ethics class and used the concept of tree rings as a way of telling a story. This lovely haiku popped up this morning with the same thought. In my journal, I wrote that the concept of “entanglement” from quantum physics might be a key to understanding what connects us in the virtual world. What ways do actions in one place influence seemingly unconnected people elsewhere?

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Mud-luscious – Ligo Haibun Challenge

Posted on October 3, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

It has been a slow start to the day due to slow Wifi. Please enjoy this blog and its posts. It is always interesting to learn what an elephant cannot do. I think it can play in the mud.

anelephantcant

AnElephantCant do this week’s Haibun
So he relates a true tale from long long ago
It has way too many words
So he apologises in verse
And he understands if you just don’t want to know

Travelling all week.
Apologies.
The Haibun Ligo Challenge is a weekly event hosted by Nightlake and the Pirate.
Visit them for all the guidelines and background.
This week’s chosen prompt is:
The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful – E.E. Cummings

Nearly Five

I spend every Monday with my grandson.
I spent this Monday with my grandson.
He was excited because Tuesday was his birthday.
He would be 5!
Five years old.

‘Grandpa Brian’, he said.
‘Do you want to come to my party’, he asked me.
‘You can come if you want to’.
‘I’d love to come’, I said, ‘Nothing would make me happier’.

‘That’s good’. He smiled.
People who are nearly five smile…

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Making Contact

Posted on October 3, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I spent most of the last two days working on a course paper about leadership and hospitality particularly as the latter may or may not occur in digital settings. It was interesting, but reciprocity and trust are critical in community building. They emerge out of hosting one another and making contact in some real way.

Virginia Satir, a psychologist and poet wrote this poem about the need to reach and touch one another in relationships. We create meaning through meaningful contact. It is easier to build community in face-to-face settings, but not impossible in virtual settings.

I believe

The greatest gift

I can conceive of having

from anyone

to be seen by them,

heard by them,

to be understood

and touched by them.

The greatest gift

I can give

to see, hear, understand

and to touch

another person.

When that is done

I feel

contact has been made.

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Poetry and Trees

Posted on October 2, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

They are also home to squirrels. Yesterday, as I walked back from the library, I saw a young man chasing a squirrel. I seemed the squirrel saw it as a game. It was almost like a dog and boy playing as they went around the tree first one way and then the other. Finally, the squirrel went up the tree far enough that he could not be reached and looked back down.

GYA today

October is national poetry month in Great Britain. Other countries celebrate in different months. Let’s share this one throughout the world with a whimsical poem from an American poet who lost his life in France during World War I.

Join me, please, in celebrating harmony …in poets, people, and countries.

Enjoy!

graphic credit: unknown

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harvesting happiness

Posted on October 1, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

It is in the ordinary we find the extraordinary – Thich Nhat Hanh

Sirena Tales

“Happiness is the harvest of a quiet eye.”–Austin O’Malley

Special thanks to our deliriously happy chipmunk visitor

and

Wishes of joy to all!

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Tilicho Lake

Posted on September 30, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I used to ice fish. I went with others and would catch a few, usually more than others. Once I caught my fill, I lay on the ice and with my head covered watch fish swim past. Different fish move at different paces. Northern pike ease past the hole and whitefish move much quickly. There was never certainty. I did not know if I was going to catch fish and see fish. Some lakes were too deep, but occasionally a fish would come up the hole and catch a breath of air.

I used to feel like I could leave everything behind and just be. It is much like when Kathy and I hike in the mountains. There is a being that does not count on any certainty. It just is. David Whyte wrote this poem. I think the prayer of rough love is just being there, in the moment, and ready for what comes. There is a beauty in that and I think a fearlessness I need to cultivate.

In this high place

it is as simple as this,

Leave everything you know behind.

Step toward the cold surface,

say the old prayer of rough love

and open both arms.

Those who come with empty hands

will stare into the lake astonished,

there, in the cold light

reflecting pure snow,

the true shape of your own face.