Tag Archives: teacher as transformer

My Status Quo

Posted on November 28, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

Is it a full moon tonight? The classroom and beyond was full of energy and it was not always healthy. I was a little frustrated and visibly annoyed part way through the afternoon. I taught one more year and wanted to teach these students so it hurts when they are disrespectful. On the way home I realized I need to set the pace. My ability to influence is my ability to shake up my status quo and walk into the fire so to speak. I chose to have a dog in this fight so what am I going to do. Even weeds of a tough day have purpose. They fertilize and increase the yield of a crop: children’s learning. This is not lost on me.

transformation–

my status quo defenseless;

an ongoing quest

seek a vision

unearth the true self

one digs deep

rest in sureness of the heart.

transform–

polish the gems of self

right speech! right action!

be confident

challenge my status quo,

influence others seriously

your time has arrived.

25 Comments

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

A Stranger’s Voice

Posted on November 27, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

When Monday rolls around and I spent Sunday disconnected, I find things quite loud and hectic. I even find my voice loud and my mind hurried and harried, but I do find I am increasingly able to recognize this is the case in that moment.

I heard a voice–

At once, both

Familiar yet unfamiliar.

This voice–

Somehow too loud

Intruded upon the day.

Tried to lean in

Attempted to recognize

Where had I heard this stranger?

Suddenly,

Without warning

I recognized it!

It was mine–

Out of place

After a spacious silence.

14 Comments

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

How do I listen?

Posted on November 24, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

I commented on a re-blog, Here’s an Idea that Mimi‘s post coincided a PBS show about a branch of neuroscience called Contemplative Mindfulness. Rudolph Tanzi is central in this work which has grown from other recent research by Richard Davidson, Ellen Langer, and Jon Kabat-Zinn. Mindful practices have been with us for centuries and are found in Christ’s, the Buddha’s and Mohammed’s teachings. Mindful listening begins with me, moves outward, and is eloquently described by Hafiz, a Sufi poet. Mindful listening requires humility those teachers emulated in their lived practice as the servant as leader.

How

Do I

Listen to others?

As if everyone were my Master

Speaking to me

His

Cherished

Last

Words.

Stay human friends.

25 Comments

Posted in Community, Leadership, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged conversational journey, eloquent questions, Hafiz, mindful listening, Mindful Practice, poetry, servant-leadership, spirituality, sufi poet, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

A Place; A Space

Posted on November 23, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

Recently, I began to consider the word organization and its meaning. We use it as a noun for the places where we work, learn, and play. Its root, organ, suggests life and interaction. Without all parts working together in some cohesive way, it disintegrates. As well, an organ, as a musical instrument, needs a human touch. Humans organize, work, learn, and achieve through a common purpose. When we fail, it is the humanity around us that helps us back to our feet.

This place–

This space–

Welcomes–

Beckons.

Cold, aloof–

Some frigid lover.

Not frantically clinging–

An anxious lover

Here one moment; gone the next

A capricious lover

No! Fully alive–

Not on life support!

Exudes a hearty warmth–

Healthy, vibrant.

It is the human touch;

A lover’s gentle embrace–

Arms hold close;

Not too tight

An invitation.

A place–

A space–

I want to be.

A place–

A space–

That calls me–

Gives me voice

Something in common.

15 Comments

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

Grace

Posted on November 22, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

Although I am not American, I think this poem’s theme is universal. A colleague shared this lovely poem that speaks eloquently about today wherever we live. The poet is Rafael Jesus Gonzalez.

Thanks & blessings be
to the Sun & the Earth
for this bread & this wine,
this fruit, this meat, this salt,
this food;
thanks be & blessing to them
who prepare it, who serve it;
thanks & blessings to them
who share it
(& also the absent & the dead).
Thanks & Blessing to them who bring it
(may they not want),
to them who plant & tend it,
harvest & gather it
(may they not want);
thanks & blessing to them who work
& blessing to them who cannot;
may they not want – for their hunger
sours the wine & robs
the taste from the salt.
Thanks be for the sustenance & strength
for our dance & work of justice, of peace.

14 Comments

Posted in Community, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Social Justice, Synchronicity and tagged community, jesus gonzalez, justice of peace, leadership, Mindful Practice, poetry, teacher as transformer, Thanksgiving. Bookmark the permalink.

A Child Sits

Posted on November 22, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

Several years ago, during a lively family discussion about war, I was asked where I stood. Peace is simple, yet apparently unachievable. I am opposed to war on the grounds there is a Commandment: “Thou shall not kill!” This underpins all Abrahamic traditions which guide Judeo-Christian and Islamic faiths. Furthermore, this premise is central to the Golden Rule which is universal. Who suffers? Inevitably, it is the weakest, the most vulnerable.

A child sits–

Shivers

Is it the cold?

Hunger

Loneliness, fear

So fragile and weak

In desperate need.

Amidst war’s carnage–

No refuge

Only chaos

Military heroes wreak havoc

Who is the toughest?

The biggest bully?

Kick sand in a child’s eyes.

There is no right side

Real courage

Begs and pleads?

Stop

Wanton, senseless

Violence and death!

Who gains?

It does not take a hero to order bombs lobbed into civilian areas of cities. Nor does it take a hero to hide behind women and children when bombs are lobbed. Last night, I heard a talking head on TV ask who has the moral high ground. Is there really one when the objective of both sides is to punish the most vulnerable. What a silly question. There is no moral high ground in war only criminality.

22 Comments

Posted in Leadership, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Social Justice and tagged creativity, eloquent questions, human-rights, leadership, Mindful Practice, poetry, politics, religion, senseless violence, social justice, spirituality, teacher as transformer, war. Bookmark the permalink.

Rhythm of Life

Posted on November 21, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

I started out with Hole in the Doughnut as a title for this poem. That had played in the recesses of my mind off and on all day. But as the poem wrote itself, I realized that might too trite even if it seemed accurate. Who has eaten a doughnut without a hole? The hole completes the doughnut. Without the hole the doughnut is a bagel.

Busy trying to fill a hole–

Plug a gap

But to no avail–

So futile;

Go dig a hole in the ocean.

Hole and whole indivisible;

Not just a play on words–

Are complete only together

Beauty in paradoxical relationship.

It invites

Calls to us

Embraces fully

Adds welcome tension–

The rhythm of life lived.

7 Comments

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

The Uses of Not

Posted on November 20, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

I wrote about paradox in Warrior’s Quest and part of the motivating force was this poem. It takes real courage to accept paradox and hold the tension. The hole in the whole completes the whole.

Thirty spokes

meet in the hub.

Where the wheel isn’t

is where it’s useful.

Hollowed out,

clay makes the pot.

Where the pot’s not

is where it’s useful.

Cut doors and windows

to make a room.

Where the room isn’t

there’s room for you.

So the profit in what is

is in the use of what isn’t.

Lao Tzu

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Posted in Leadership, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged community, conversational journey, eloquent questions, Lao Tzu, leadership, philosophy, poetry, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Warrior’s Quest

Posted on November 17, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

I sat today and was going to post a Lao Tzu poem, The Uses of Not. I typed a short preamble and realized it was a Sabbath poem. Sometimes it is in paradox I find the most sense. It is in questions that I deepen conversations. I am in service of the questions. Earlier this week, I said I spent much of my life chasing answers. This is an echo of Father Richard Rohr who says maturity leads us to stop chasing certainty. I seek eloquent questions with no ready answers: and invite others into conversations. I might have used pirate, but I began reading Shambhala:The Path of the Sacred Warrior by Chögyam Trungpa recently and it offered a new understanding, for me, of the word warrior.

Paradox–

Seemingly incompatible tempest

Space invites space

Forms a spacious meadow.

Deepen conversations–

Without ready answers;

But, eloquent questions

Be open, surprised.

A warrior’s quest–

Lighten the load

Be grateful and receive the gifts

Serve the journey.