Tag Archives: teacher as transformer

Be Alive

I enjoy the counter cultural nature of Parker Palmer’s writing and the concepts in the Art of Hosting. I write about Parker‘s work often and he describes the listening we need to do to our inner teacher and others as counter cultural. When we invite people into conversation, listen deeply, and ask questions which shake our certainty about the world the same applies.

Today, I walked to the top of Cates Hill here on Bowen Island. It was spectacular. A colleague took this picture as I was writing. Notice I am on high ground and wearing sandals. I got up there of my accord

Perched pensively

Pencil in hand;

My senses alive

I awake–

Aware.

Sounds flow,

A breeze caresses,

Sunlight bathes,

Peaceful moments–

I bask in each.

That Space, That Silence

It has been another long day. I am not always a politically correct person in the way some want. I struggle to say what the dominant group of the moment wants everyone to say. A reason we have polarization in the world is we want others to agree with us sometimes without giving reasons for it to happen. I might agree, but what about those who are not present?

That invisible space between us–

Between our truths

Sacred ground

Till it gently.

That silence you hear–

Almost imperceptible;

It is reverent

Hold it gently.

That space,

That silence,

Emerge magically

No recipe needed.

That space,

That silence,

Easily chased away–

Shhh…

What to Remember When Wakening

It was a long day. I was up at 5:45 AM, on a flight at 11:30 AM, and just wrapping up my day in a different time zone than the one I began the day in. Again, I had a great day and will find time to speak about it as the days move on. I am doing an Art of Hosting workshop and the first day was pretty incredible. It speaks to the David Whyte poem about thing coming to life even when unplanned and only need nourishment and nurturing to come to life.

In that first hardly noticed moment in which you wake,
coming back to this life from the other
more secret, moveable and frighteningly honest world
where everything began,
there is a small opening into the new day
which closes the moment you begin your plans.

What you can plan is too small for you to live.
What you can live wholeheartedly will make plans enough
for the vitality hidden in your sleep.

To be human is to become visible
while carrying what is hidden as a gift to others.
To remember the other world in this world
is to live in your true inheritance.

You are not a troubled guest on this earth,
you are not an accident amidst other accidents
you were invited from another and greater night
than the one from which you have just emerged.

Now, looking through the slanting light of the morning window
toward the mountain presence of everything that can be
what urgency calls you to your one love?
What shape waits in the seed of you
to grow and spread its branches
against a future sky?

Is it waiting in the fertile sea?
In the trees beyond the house?
In the life you can imagine for yourself?
In the open and lovely white page on the writing desk?

Stay Human My Friends

I ready for my Sabbath break. Yesterday morning, this Bizarro cartoon was in my blog reader. Todd’s posts are short and provocative, so the link is to his site for those who have not been there before. He gives me pause to think.

I shared this cartoon with a circle of acquaintance. We discussed the Most Interesting Man in the World advertisements for an adult beverage. I am an abstainer so the ads are humourous, but there is no chance I will buy the product.

What about a broader message? Instead of closing with “Stay Thirsty My Friends” or “Stay Filthy My Friend”, we could say, “Stay Human my Friends”?

Thich Nhat Hanh reminds me, “find the ordinary in the extraordinary.” I often miss those things which make me most alive and human. I find, in the ordinary so often missed, the extraordinary and live a mindful life.

Stay human my friends

Be one with the universe

Be compassionate.

Witness

Denise Levertov wrote this beautiful reminder for me. I awaken and grow aware of the world I live in and with. I only need make the effort to open my eyes, my mind, and my heart

Sometimes the mountain

is hidden from in veils

of cloud, sometimes

I am hidden from the mountain

in veils of inattention, apathy, fatigue,

when I forget or refuse to go

down to the shore or a few yards

up the road, on a clear day, to reconfirm

that witnessing presence.

Hear from the Heart

Silently–

Listen closely,

Differently–

What do you hear?

Pause–

Be open–

Allow momentary glimpses–

Here,

Hear from the heart;

Who do you hear?

The true self–

Breathe a soft invitation;

Surrender to spacious solitude;

Be with one’s self–

Be one’s self–

Oh, so gently.

The Right Moment Arrived

We were hit by a somewhat unexpected winter storm today. The forecasters predicted it for parts of northern Alberta, but it slumped towards Edmonton. Driving was slow, but I took my time and arrived on time, just when I was supposed to arrive. Sometimes in the fog or blizzard of life’s busyness, I lose my way. We are into report cards and we have the latest system designed just for us. I was not very happy yesterday and was letting stress get to me. Today, I took a message from nature and slowed down and it got done.

It arrived–

A winter storm

Unexpected,

I felt unsure

Slow down.

Grasping frantically,

Busyness overtakes

I let go

I arrive on time

In the very moment that just arrived.

Self Discovery

Father Richard Rohr wrote an excellent meditation this morning. He wrote about discovering the self and all day his words came back into my quiet moments. I am tired, but I feel more awake now, because there is something exciting in being lost.

Discover self–

Imperfect, unrefined;

Genuine, real–

Not hidden;

Unvarnished, vulnerable.

Happiness appears;

Refuge

Falsehoods recede–

Ever so slowly,

Spirit wakens–

Revitalized and awake.

Teaching on the Margins

Last week, I wrote Mojo Gathers Momentum. A gift of my journey to Bainbridge was the realization I had lost the belief I was a good teacher. I have never believed this was my place to speak to that. There is a certain humility a teacher should have and extends beyond patting myself on the back. What I do know and recognize is I am different teacher. I have modeled my approach after teachers I believed operated on the margins and accepted that is their place. It was a place that they could do more good for students and the communities we live in.

false security

when hidden

yet, fully surrounded–

paradox of my humanness.

stand out

reveal blemishes

make them obvious

revel in them.

great teachers

found comfort on the margins

not hidden in the crowd

stepped out with pride.

humanness lived;

so fully

it reveals imperfections

for I am human, after all.

Beyond Questions

I close my week with this wonderful poem by May Sarton. As I reflect on the week passed, I hope I am left with more questions than answers and the time to luxuriate in the space between the question and answer. I noticed today and yesterday, when I pause and let go, my monkey mind chatter is greatly reduced. It has been helpful.

The phoebe sits on her nest

Hour after hour,

Day after day,

Waiting for life to burst out

From under her warmth.

Can I wave a nest for silence,

Weave it out of listening,

Listening,

Layer upon layer?

But one must first become small,

Nothing but a presence

Attentive as a nesting bird,

Proffering no slightest wish

Toward anything that might happen

Or be given,

Only the warmth, faithful waiting,

Contained in one’s smallness.

Beyond the question, the silence.

Before the answer, the silence.