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Chapter 9. Lighting a Spark. Lighting a spark seems like an easy enough task but I've been in a relationship for over 15 years and can not light a spark underneath my love even if it was a camp fire. In my professional life, I have lit tons on sparks. I have given words of encouragement to many coworkers. Talking to my students in ways that bring them to think, say and do things they could never have imagined. What was truly poignant in the chapter was the idea of enrollment. The story of Ben's influence and spark on the children of Eastlea Community School was very powerful. If you give people a chance to connect to be the person they can be without your judgements then maybe you can light a fire underneath them to see a world beyond their imaginations. Change comes from being changed.
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Chapter 10. Being the Board: It’s not them. It’s not the circumstances. It’s me. It’s my choices. Trying to imagine a life where someone doesn't blame someone else seems extraordinary. But the concept and the task seems like one that will put a spark of life into a relationship I desperately have been trying to save for quite some time. Taking responsibility for your part or lack there of in situations is a wonderful tool to not feeling fearful or angry about most situations. Knowing that life is like and that your place in it is owning who your are and what you do. Sometimes the worst part of learning about being the board and all the endless possibilities is that you're alone. The fear that people exude is usually about being alone and the fight to not feel and be that way, and the utopia of knowledge kind of puts you in that place. How can being the board help me out of that?
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http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=851Chapter 11. Creating Frameworks for Possibility: The story of the little girl returning to class after chemotherapy and after the children's laughter of having a bald head, the teacher comes to class the next day with no hair giving the impression that it was the in-style thing to do. It gave the incidence a new framework/spark than the previous one. It is those stories and the idea that energy comes from the individual and that they can pass it on to others. The goal is to make yours positive ones. Even the story about the students after a concert becoming too unruly, and how Ben handled it without punishment or leading the situation into a downward spiral. Understanding that if you create a way for others to see the responsibilities of their actions through the framework of the possible positive action to be or already done, than there will be no need to make them feel guilty about what has been done.
I can use this in my daily management with my students. If I take the framework that in order not to create a downward spiral I need to create a vision for my students that embodies the possibilities for them to define themselves in a new way.
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Chapter 12. Telling the WE Story: I told you it wasn’t about you. I haven't had the experience of combining my gifts with someone equally gifted. I can only assume that it would be a powerful learning experience. having the ability to give and take equally with someone would be a ground shaking experience. However I have had experiences and the pleasure of lifting up students, coworkers, family/friends, and even a stranger and enabling them to realize their dreams and exceed anything that you could have imagined. One recent incident is when I saw the potential of my students writing ability. He was a male and even though there are tons of stereotypes about males and writing, he was did not fit the bill. His writing was imaginative and full of detail. I encouraged him to continue to write and through some of my projects, he has continued the passion of writing through music lyrics and short stories.
Tria,
ReplyDeleteI am compelled to write on this post as I am finding myself in a very similar situation in one of my “lives”
I find personally, that I address how I react to the situation is that I spend a lot of time working on myself and the things that make me a better person/professional. In “many” cases, I find that I’m preoccupied enough by what it takes to make me a better me that I am less and less connected to what is wrong with the other people in my personal/professional circle. Its not a unconcerned attitude of what happens on the outside…it is more that some things I do as a person/professional because I choose to, because it makes me feel accomplished…because my desire to be the best at my undertakings won’t allow me to snuff my cinder or have it snuffed by personal or professional stimulus simply because that is not how they do things.
At the end of the day if I fall short…I don’t want it to be because I am reactionary to my personal professional circle. I want to do everything life exactly the way that my spark in me motivated me to do…. regardless of who does not operate that way.
Just a thought…
JCIII
@Tria,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your emotional honesty. It takes a lot of bravery to be so frank especially in a blog format. You are definitely a role model in this regard. I have been trying to employ the practices from the Art of Possibility within my own life and it is hard to say the least, so I wish you the best of luck.