Tag Archives: Paulo Coehlo

Trusting Love

Posted on September 14, 2018 by ivonprefontaine

This is a wonderful post about love Charmed Chaos

Love is what makes us human, brings us together, and allows each of us to grow. For humans, love is part of who we are and is instinctual. It does not have to be taught, unlike hate and war.

I used an activity, Culture of Peace, and had students describe the difference between a culture of hate and one of peace. We filled whiteboards describing a Culture of Peace and the conversation ended quickly about one of hate. It affirmed my faith in children and the role of love in their lives.

Paulo Coehlo asks and answers how love comes to be in our lives.

How does light enter a house? If the windows are open. How does light enter a human? If the door of love is open.

Posted in Community, Leadership, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Social Justice, Uncategorized, Writing and tagged charmed chaos, life, love, Paulo Coehlo, writing. Bookmark the permalink. 17 Comments

A Book Lover’s Tag

Posted on November 8, 2017 by ivonprefontaine

via A BOOK LOVER’S TAG

Diana passed on a tag and posed 13 questions to her followers with this re-blog. The best part of the her post was the John O’Donohue blessing about how our words make the invisible visible through our personal artistry and creativity.

Do you have a favourite place to read? No, I read everywhere but in vehicles.
Do you use bookmarks or random pieces of paper? I use both and more. I turn corners, highlight, and use sticky notes with notes.
Do you eat or drink while you read? I drink tea, but rarely ever eat while I read.
Do you listen to music or watch TV? There always seems to be music playing, but I find the TV distracting. Music fades into the background.
Do you read one book or several at a time? I do both. I find reading one book helps me focus, but I cannot help reading more books.
Do you prefer reading at home or elsewhere? There is a small coffee shop a few minutes from the house. The baristas and owners welcome me almost each day.
Do you read silently or out loud? I read silently most of the time, but, when I read something of particular interest, I read it to Kathy. I enjoy reading to our grandson when we visit with him.
Do you read ahead or skip about? I skip about. I like to read the index in a book and see who references are if it is a book I use for my writing. I cheat and read ahead in non-fiction.
Do you break the spine or treat it like new? I buy many of my books used, so they come well used. If I get a new book, I mark it up inside, but treat it like new.
Do you write in books? I mark them up with a felt marker and make notes for future reference. The exception is when I read non-fiction and poetry.
What books are you reading now? I am reading The Company of Strangers by Parker Palmer.
What is your childhood favourite book? I don’t have one, but I remember reading Little Golden Books and having them read to me as a special part of my early reading.
What is your favourite book of all time? That is like choosing who my favourite child is. I think it depends on mood and time. I enjoy great poetry i.e. Mary Oliver and Wendell Berry. I read books about spirituality i.e. Parker Palmer. I read about education i.e. William Pinar, John Dewey, and Madeline Grumet. I read about philosophy i.e. Aristotle, Hannah Arendt, and Paul Ricoeur. My favourite fiction writers are John D. MacDonald and Paulo Coehlo.

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Posted in Blogging, Community, Leadership, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, teacher as transformer, Writing and tagged Aristotle, Hannah Arendt, John O'Donohue, Madeline Grumet, Mary Oliver, Parker Palmer, Paul Ricoeur, Paulo Coehlo, reading, Wendell Berry, William Pinar, writing. Bookmark the permalink.

Solitude. A Photographic Journey.

Posted on February 9, 2017 by ivonprefontaine

I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least, and it is commonly more than that, sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolu…

Source: Solitude. A Photographic Journey.

The photographs are wonderful and a quote accompanies each speaking to the essential nature of spending time with our self. It is in reflective moments that we spend in solitude that we rediscover who we are in trying to make our self whole.

The Hasidic scholar, educator, political activist, and philosopher Martin Buber said “solitude is the place of purification.” Through dialogue with our self, others, and the world, we grow to understand who we are and our place in the world in relationship to others.

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Posted in Community, Mindful Life, Nature in All Its Glory, Photography, Reflective Moments, teacher as transformer, Uncategorized and tagged community, conversational journey, creativity, Deepak Chopra, Desmond Tutu, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Martin Buber, Mary Oliver, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, nature, Paulo Coehlo, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

I Opened a Book

Posted on May 7, 2016 by ivonprefontaine

Julia Donaldson reminds us that reading is potentially a mindful activity. We lose ourselves in the as we stride into the book, mixing magical elixirs, and making new friends with whom we share the journey.

For me, Paulo Coehlo is an author that I lose myself in his novels. There is something magical about them and his most famous book is aptly named The Alchemist. I recall the first time I read the book losing myself in it and not being able to put it down.

When we finish the book and we have been mindful in reading it, it stays with us and becomes part of us. I used quotes from The Alchemist in writing as it had left such an imprint on me.

I opened a book and in I strode.
Now nobody can find me.
I’ve left my chair, my house, my road,
My town and my world behind me.

I’m wearing the cloak, I’ve slipped on the ring,
I’ve swallowed the magic potion.
I’ve fought with a dragon, dined with a king
And dived in a bottomless ocean.

I opened a book and made some friends.
I shared their tears and laughter
And followed their road with its bumps and bends
To the happily ever after.

I finished my book and out I came.
The cloak can no longer hide me.
My chair and my house are just the same,
But I have a book inside me.

14 Comments

Posted in Education, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged conversational journey, creativity, Julia Donaldson, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, Paulo Coehlo, poetry, teacher as transformer, The Alchemist. Bookmark the permalink.

Be a Person

Posted on March 30, 2016 by ivonprefontaine

When we do something, even small things, it is important to the world and others. Our words and actions call out to the world and others. We invoke the world to respond and share something important with us.

William Stafford wrote about being a person. Who we are is what calls to us and our response to it. The call gives us purpose and voice. In our dreams and imagination, we find that calling, that sense of purpose.

Perhaps, it is about becoming the person who we are, and not just being the person who stands in this spot and moment. We are always becoming a person that we cannot fully imagine and anticipate in advance, but somehow that person resembles who we were just a moment ago.

Paulo Coehlo said that “It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” In dreaming, we are always becoming a new person and the uncertainty of that makes life interesting for us and others.

Be a person here. Stand by the river, invoke
the owls. Invoke winter, then spring.
Let any season that wants to come here make its own
call. After that sound goes away, wait.

A slow bubble rises through the earth
and begins to include sky, stars, all space,
even the outracing, expanding thought.
Come back and hear the little sound again.

Suddenly this dream you are having matches
everyone’s dream, and the result is the world.
If a different call came there wouldn’t be any
world, or you, or the river, or the owls calling.

How you stand here is important. How you
listen for the next things to happen. How you breathe.

10 Comments

Posted in Community, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged Be a Person, community, creativity, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, Paulo Coehlo, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer, William Stafford. 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.

19 Comments

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.

HIROSHIMA, JAPAN IMAGES: THE SIMPLEST THINGS IN LIFE

Posted on August 5, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

HIROSHIMA, JAPAN IMAGES: THE SIMPLEST THINGS IN LIFE.

I mention my favourite poets regularly i.e. Mary Oliver and Wendell Berry and want to mention my favourite prose writer Paulo Coehlo. This post begins with a quote from Manuscript Found in Accra asking we let the simplest things reveal there extraordinary nature. The photography underscores this point.

It is in the ordinary the extraordinary is revealed is one of my favourite quotes from Thich Nhat Hanh. When I am mindful, present, and attentive, I sense the extraordinary I rush past in my haste to get to the next moment.

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Posted in Mindful Life, Photography, Reflective Moments and tagged creativity, Manuscript Found in Accra, Mary Oliver, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, Paulo Coehlo, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer, Thich Nhat Hanh, writing. Bookmark the permalink.

Light Reading

Posted on April 10, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

While on holidays I read My Invented Country: A Memoir by Isabel Allende. It was a chance reading as I purchased the book at a second-hand store. Once I began reading it, I could not put it down and finished it in one sitting. A line that stood out was “I can’t pretend to know what part of my memory is reliable and how much I’ve invented, because the job of defining the line between them is beyond my ability. I have read that the mental process of imagining and that of remembering are so much alike that they are nearly indistinguishable.” We imagine the life we live as much as we live the life we live.

Isabel Allende recounted her love for the poetry of Pablo Neruda. My favourite Pablo Neruda poem is Ode to My Socks. This is the last stanza: The moral of my ode is this:/beauty is twice beauty/and what is good is doubly good/when it is a matter of two socks/made of wool in winter. I remind students, when they write poetry, reveal the ordinary as the extraordinary. The knitting of socks was an act of love as was the wearing of the socks.

Kathy picked up a book by Paulo Coelho knowing how much I enjoy this particular author’s books. A line about life and its meaning is “A strange transformation began to take place: now that she had the bird and no longer needed to woo him, she began to lose interest. The bird unable to fly and express the true meaning of his life began to waste away and his feathers to lose their gloss; he grew ugly; and the woman no longer paid him any attention, except by feeding him and cleaning out his cage.” With meaning in life, we discover beauty and fulfillment or, perhaps, they discover us.

Paolo Coelho spent time touring Europe including Spain and one result was his best-known book, The Alchemist. Spain was the homeland of a poet I enjoy, Antonio Machado. The following lines are from his poem, Cantares: “Traveller, the road is only/your footprint, and no more; /traveller, there’s no road, /the road is your travelling. /Going becomes the road/and if you look back/you will see a path/none can tread again.

There is never a shortage of great reading. We only have to find it.