Today I am feeling all the pressures and today I am feeling that quit, but today I am going work through all those fears and negative self talk because I know that today's struggles will lead to something greater and more accomplished me.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
The Final...
week 3 reading
Does It Gotta Be or Not Be? That is the Question...
I keep thinking about the movie "Bridget Jones", where the co-star told her "he liked her just the way she was", but instead of being who she reacted to those words and strive to be someone so she wasn't all to have a man. We tend to forget that things may be the way they are and that sometimes an adjust is necessary, but other times they are not. The challenge I believe comes from understanding not fighting so that all possibilities are open.
This chapter also addressed MISTAKES. We all make them and many times dwell on them way too long. Mistakes like everything else in life are just experiences that e must use to push forward and not stop us from knocking or building walls for progress. Mistakes are just mini lessons in the cycle and we must take each one are an learning experience to be better. I like the paragraph - Mistakes can be like ice. If we resist them, we may keep on slipping into a posture of defeat. If we include mistakes in our definition of performance, we are likely to glide through them and appreciate the beauty of the longer run.
The last point I want to touch on from this chapter is the way things are should allow us to dream and visualize the possibilities that out there. It will allow us to develop who we are and want to be in the universe. It should allow us to open doors with an open heart and mind. The way things are is in itself another avenue to the "Art of Possibility." (no pun intended)
ClASSMATES SPEAK ABOUT IT... week 3
Keith Lay says...
MAC wk3 The Way Things Are Give Way to Passion
Benjamin Zander discusses "The Way Things Are" in Chapter 7 and "Giving Way to Passion" in The Art of Possibility. This is the core of Buddhist teachings as well, as well as a large body of counseling/psychiatric practices.
After working lots a factory line and retail jobs through my early 20s, getting paid to do things that I really loved was such a joy. I became one of those people who find themselves on an upward trajectory for many decades. I taught college in my 20s and was lucky to be in teaching situations which invited new ideas. After a successful stage in commercial music production, I came to Full Sail at age 32 to teach Synclavier Digital Music system. I had a lot to say about how we could improve the curriculum. Again, I was taken seriously. Moving to Music History and Introduction to the Media arts, i poured ideas and love into very successful courses. Allowing Course Directors to create their curriculum invites ownership and passion. Such passion danced in step with growing notoriety in the field of classical composition and a healthy beautiful family.
But what goes up always comes down. A great boss means everything, I found, because not all of them welcome creativity. I moved up in the company carrying the assumption that I was to do what I'd done in the past - find creative solutions. I felt called to bring heart and a feeling of overall community to an unrecognized and neglected faculty and staff. Instead, I was to be a yes man, not allowed to push back. I was so naive to not know this! Crashing has such a hard won wisdom.
Accepting the way things are requires meditation and honesty. Such processing is helpful with a trusted spouse or friend. The pain involved might be something like what a tree feels when being pruned. It is necessary for health - and absolutely painful. Understanding your own part in things that go awry, uncovering unwholesome desires for status and access - Leaving something of yourself is like dying. Rebirth follows. Anyone who holds onto their spark has to get good at this process. I struggle with this daily.
The way through is holding out for our passion. But, passion can be confused with desire which leads back to disillusionment; which must be pruned off. And patience. Sometimes you know you're in the wrong place, but must wait for the time to leave to ripen. That's where leading from where you are becomes a powerful practice. Finding possibility in the narrow places. Crashes and the pruning have reshaped me. My passion for teaching is stronger, my artistic and scientific directions clearer. Top Gun Keith has died - and, as hard as it has been for me to accept this, my life is again full of sparkling possibilities without those beautiful folks flying the DC3 in the clouds (so far from reality).
ms. stacey comments
I think is great that you have not allowed others to discourage what you know is correct. Your passion and desire may be what allow you to move forward and make what you think could be impossible possible. After reading your entry you made me think of a quote that I sometimes forget, but I believe it can apply to you as well... Without struggle there is no progress (F.Douglas) Keep your passion alive because when one door closes you are ready when the next one opens.
CLASSMATES SPEAK ABOUT IT... week 3
MY PASSION FOR CREATIVITY
LORI PICKERING says...
LORI PICKERING SAYS...
CHAPTER 8. GIVING WAY TO PASSION: CONTROL SAYS THAT THE ONLY WAY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT AND FRUSTRATION IS TO NOT CARE AT ALL. NO HITS, NO RUNS, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, NO ERRORS. WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN YOUR DAILY LIFE THAT EXPRESSES YOUR PASSION OR THE THINGS YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT?
“DEAR MR. ZANDER,
I GOT MY A BECAUSE I AM SUCH A SPECIAL AND BRIGHT ARTIST. A REAL ARTIST OF HUMAN LIFE. THE MOST PRECIOUS TREASURE OF WHOLE MY BODY IS THE ENDLESS PASSION OF LIFE. SHE FEN”
THIS COMMENT STILLS MY HEARTBEAT. MY PASSION IS TO OPEN THE DOOR FOR CREATIVE GENIUS TO BLOOM. I FIND THAT IN MY OWN LIFE, I MAKE ART IN SOME WAY EVERYDAY THAT I BREATHE. I DRAW, SEW, PAINT,KNIT, BEAD, SCULPT, COLOR,TAKE PHOTOS..........
I CANNOT TURN IT OFF IN MYSELF. I THINK THAT I SERVE AS A ROLE MODEL FOR MY STUDENTS. WHEN THEY SEE THAT CREATIVITY CAN FLOW AS EFFORTLESSLY AS BREATHING. I SHOW THEM HOW TRANSFORMING ART CAN BE FOR EACH OF US. I WANT THEM TO FEEL THE MAGIC IN LOSING YOURSELF IN THE ACT OF CREATING.
I GET A CHALLENGE OUT OF THE NUMEROUS POSSIBILITIES TO EVERY QUESTION IN ART.
I LOVE TO MAKE STUFF IN THE STUDIO WITH MY KIDS. I SEE THE SMILES AND SATISFACTION IN THEM AND I KNOW THAT MY PASSION HAS BEEN STRENGTHEN BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN SHARED.
I LOVE THAT YOU ARE VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT ART AND IT IS CONVEYED THROUGH YOUR WORDS AND MOST DEFINITELY THROUGH YOUR SITE. YOU USE COLOR AND INTERESTING FONTS SO THAT YOUR PAGE IS FUN TO NOT ONLY READ BUT TO LOOK AT. YOU MENTION THAT YOUR PASSION IS TO OPEN DOORS AND THAT HAS IS A GREAT FEELING TO WANT TO INSPIRE OTHERS WITH SOMETHING YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT. WITH SUCH A TRYING WORLD SOMETIMES WE LOSE THAT MAGIC AND IT IS GREAT YOU STILL SEE AND FEEL THE CREATIVE NATURE OF ALL. THROUGH YOUR PASSION IN ART I FEEL THE POSSIBILITIES! THANK YOU.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
what do you write about when you have nothing...
With so much going on in the world, and in my life right now I would think that I would have something to share, but I have nothing! I am sitting here just wishing the words would come, but what I am realizing is that I have reached my saturation point. So I decided I would talk to some friends to get some help. I have spoke to two friends tonight to get some suggestions, but they to could give me nothing interesting. For once in life I have nothing to write about, so when you have nothing to write I see no point in forcing it because I am sure it will get ugly! So tonight I will be still, breathe and appreciate life!
So tonight I am going to leave my blog with a quote...
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. Winston Churchill
keep striving for the possibilities!!!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
CLASSMATES SPEAK ABOUT IT... week 2
WK 2 - Making a contribution by leading from any chair
LOURIA ANN MACON
Ok I must first comment on the fact that you believe you don't like reading... I truly understand the ugly taste that 6th grade teacher left in your life, but look at who you've become in spite of her negative tongue!!! I would beg to differ on your thoughts of reading. Not all classics are great stories and you like what you like. You couldn't have gotten this far without liking something about reading even if it is to increase your knowledge, which by the way is a great reason... I am an English teacher and I know that you really love reading!!!
I can appreciate your warm thoughts about your principal because before I left the classroom I had that same great experience with my principal. Making difficult times a little bit easier! Not only was she open to my ideas, but would embrace them so that at least the students we touched would be impacted. It is good to know that there are higher ups who really make a contribution and are not just a title!!!
Keep reading and loving it!!!
CLASSMATES SPEAK ABOUT IT... week 2
Wk 2 - Reading Activity - Chapter 6 - On Transformation and Rule #6 - Joan's Blog...
“A transformation is a shift in how we experience the world, and these shifts happen continually, often just beyond our notice. As soon as a person sets out on an adventure, or falls in love, or starts a new job, she is likely to find herself feeling and thinking and talking like a new person, curious as to how she could have felt the way she had just days earlier.” (Zander)
As I read chapters 4 – 6, I shared several of the passages with my spouse and how transformations had an impact on who we are and how we got there. I have been blessed with many transformational experiences in my life.
It is amazing that when you are going through a transformation that you are unaware of the transformation, but when you have transformed you are awaken to a new self. Each of life's experiences are to not to be just experiences, but impacting who you are and you benefited in some way or another.
Rule #6 is sometimes difficult for me because when I am into something I struggle with not taking it serious because I believe what I am dong is serious! Not to say I don't have fun while doing it, but need and want it to make a difference in education, relationships or whatever. I am going to have to work on the idea of not taking things not so seriously!!!
Rule #6 is sometimes difficult for me because when I am into something I struggle with not taking it serious because I believe what I am dong is serious! Not to say I don't have fun while doing it, but need and want it to make a difference in education, relationships or whatever. I am going to have to work on the idea of not taking things not so seriously!!!
week 2 reading
transformers... more than meets the eye!Declare yourself to be a contribution.
Throw yourself into life as someone who makes a difference, accepting that you may not understand how or why.
I declare myself a contribution! Those are very strong words to let come from your thoughts of who you are, but it is important that you (I) make a difference whether it is small or big, but that it is a contribution. I must state that I never thought that the word or act of contribution as a game or a gift, but after reading, it is a game the game of life and being someone who believes in a higher being it is synonymous with the idea of having a purpose to contributing to others. "In the game of "contribution" you wake up each day and bask in the notion that you are a gift to others." (page 59) It would seem that most people who enter a career of service, teacher, nurse, doctor, firefighter, attorney, etc. search for this feeling of declaring him/herself as a contribution. The purpose to make a difference/contribution is not for a self reward, but for a greater impact that is seen or not!
Seventeen years ago I declared myself a contribution without even knowing that was what I had done. I knew that I wanted to have impact and make a difference in the lives of youth and it was easy then to accept that I didn't understand the why or how. The possibilities were great, but with time, experiences and others pessimistic views I allowed "my game" to be tainted. The success of my students was always the biggest picture, but all of that transformed me negatively, not realizing until now that all of that time, experience and others were (are) part of the "contribution" game. That part of the game pushed me to move to different possibility for touching the lives of others. "The contribution game appears to have remarkable powers for transforming conflicts into rewarding experiences." (page 59) I declare myself a contribution!
"Naming oneself and others as a contribution produces a shift away from self-concern and engages us in relationship with others that is an arena for making a difference. Rewards in the contribution game are of deep and enduring kind, though less predictable than the trio of money, fame and power that accrue to be the winner in the success game. You never know what they will be or from whence the will come." (page 63) As I ponder on that paragraph it took me back to my life the last three years, wow! I would have never believed that enduring those dreadful collaborations every Tuesday could be a contribution to me and me looking for a "NEW" more rewarding possibility. The relationship with most of those educators was like a bad arranged marriage, that only now do I see the positivity it offered and it was those transformers that rearranged and helped to release my disguise. With that experience I am able to re-declare myself to the game of contribution and know my gifts are opportunities for the "NEW POSSIBILITIES!" It is with that I was (am) able to shift and transform myself to make a difference in the lives of others just on new path!
My passion and commitment to continue to make a difference will leave a mark somewhere in the universe. I declare myself a contribution!
References
image retrieved from http://www.dandare.org/FreeFun/Images/CartoonsMoviesTV/TransformersWallpaper21024.jpg
Zander, B., & Zander-Stone, R., (2000) The art of possibilities: Transforming professional and
personal life. London: Penguin Books.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
the journey of possibilities...
As I thought about what to add to my blog today was very difficult because as we all know life happens and many times when we need it to be still. As I watch my mother transform due to alzheimers I am glad that I didn't always take her advice. She was a woman who believed/believes in education owning a daycare, but would have not thought it was a good idea for me to pursue a master's degree online. She is from an era where tradition and stability is important and computers are to uncertain. Being able to see that Full Sail offered me a possibility I stepped out and took the chance!
Online learning although, has been a great experience, I still value being in the classroom. I like the fact that you build relationships and get to feel and see the reactions of the people surrounding you. On my next journey it will be important for me to combine both styles of learning because I miss the classroom while at the same time I appreciate the convenience of online learning. I am tremendously happy that I took the chance because I see nothing but opportunities from my experience!
week 1 reading
SUCCESS IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER...
"You are more likely to be successful, overall, if you participate joyfully with projects and goals and do not think your life depends on achieving the mark because then you will be better able to connect to people all around you." (Zander and Zander, page 21) I like this comment because we are always measuring who we are by others and not what we deem as successful. There are a world of people that we don't even experience and we guide our lives and possibilities by what others in our small circle judge as success. The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander is a read that allows the reader to be open and vulnerable in thinking beyond what is normal.
It is amazing, as well as, interesting that this would be the book we are reading. Last year the idea of "POSSIBILITY" was so easy for me to envision, but the closer I get to completing school the box opportunity seems to get smaller. I find myself restricting myself and losing sight of a purpose. My thoughts and actions are becoming limited which is moving my passion to uncomfortable. The chance to step into the "Universe of Possibility" that I designed and visualized is becoming challenging and my fear is not allowing me to continue in my transformation. The idea that I must continually question, "how my thoughts and actions, in this moment, reflections of the measurement world?", forces me to acknowledge that there will be struggles and fears, but there are possibilities in the transformation.
As I continue to read and then write about the ideas presented in the first few chapters I am realizing the it is difficult to separate the chapters. Each concept builds on the next. In the beginning of the book they discussed how, Our minds are designed to string the events into story lines, whether or not there is a connection between the parts."(Zander and Zander page 12) Which made me think about the dash (-) that is in the middle of the birth and death and what we contribute, what opportunities we take advantage of or not take of advantage of, how we value our experiences/relationships and what story they will eventually tell. While living we use excuses and experiences to restrict our possibilities, close boxes and fail ourselves figuratively and literally preventing a transformation in who we can be! "In the measurement world, you set a goal and strive for it. In the universe of possibility, you set the context and let life unfold." (page 21) Thinking and acting universally we open so many boxes and then our limitations are limited!
Great idea that we end with thinking of POSSIBILITIES... media and technology offer so many POSSIBILITIES!!!
CLASSMATES SPEAK ABOUT IT..
Cedric says...
Chapter 1 – It’s all invented
Opportunities are all around us it is like we invent our opportunities. A couple of clichés come to mind. “One person sees the glass as half empty while another person sees the glass as half full” and “one man’s trash is a another man’s is another treasure.” If two people look at the same situation and one person sees no possibilities and the other person sees unlimited opportunities. I think that this is a direct reflection of an individual’s perspective and experience in life. That is why education is so important. Education allows individuals the opportunity to broaden their horizon or view of life in the same way as a person that takes the time to learn about other cultures. The more a person knows about the world in which we live in the greater the possibility that the person will have the ability to see opportunities when others see none...
Chapter 2 – Stepping into a University of Possibility
When we think about the universe we think about “infinity”, a place that is incomprehensible in its totality and discoveries. So are the possibilities of opportunities. The only restrictions of opportunities are the restrictions that we conceive for our selves. Stepping into a universe of possibilities sounds like a good idea but it is not as easy as it sounds. When we think of the universe we also think about the unknown...
Chapter 3 – Giving an A
This chapter brings up a good point about grades. If a student receives an “A” for work preformed, is it because the student is adapt at meeting the requirements to receive an “A” or is it because the truly understands the material? This chapter suggests that grades are a tool to measure one student against another. This adds an element of competition among students that may cause them to lead a solitary academic life.
Cedric so many of us never look at the possibilities and become trapped in the condition we are in and stifle ourselves. I must agree the education does allow opportunities as well as information, but this comes from so many experiences in life, (school, the streets, relationships) the list goes on and we forget to look outside the box to see where this can take us. Learning and restricting our views are the biggest reason that many of us seem to fail. It brings me to the thought that we must sometimes fail before we see or feel success and that it is mind over matter.
We sometimes forget that we can ONLY measure our successes by what we believe is success and not what the universe deems as success.
I like that this book offers the opportunity to see that we all have possibilities and are capable to reach whatever if we take the risk.
We sometimes forget that we can ONLY measure our successes by what we believe is success and not what the universe deems as success.
I like that this book offers the opportunity to see that we all have possibilities and are capable to reach whatever if we take the risk.
CLASSMATES SPEAK ABOUT IT..
ISABEL’S EDM613 BLOG
This chapter really got me thinking about past relationships from my earliest childhood friend to my first love. I started to look back on them and wonder what grade I had given them and why. That of course led me to wonder what would happen if I were to reevaluate the relationships and regrade them- toss out the old rubric and come up with a new one. I found that just the thought of reevaluating my relationship to others made me feel lighthearted and I realized that this idea of giving others an “A” is more about giving yourself an “A”. This idea got me thinking about what the grades we give as teachers say about us....
STACEY ROBINSON
This is interesting that you would think back to something as personal as your relationships with friends and loves and thought about them in terms of giving a grade. I know that I always think that relationships whether they are gone or still existing as chance to learn about you and others, but never did I equate them as some type of measurements.
I like that fact that this book gives us an opportunity to look beyond media and technology, but a chance to look at self. You really connected by actually thinking about what the grades really say. The grades actually send a message and many students believe we are giving them the grade , not that they are earning them. Grades especially an "A+" over an "A" say so much and just those few points can mean the world.
I like that fact that this book gives us an opportunity to look beyond media and technology, but a chance to look at self. You really connected by actually thinking about what the grades really say. The grades actually send a message and many students believe we are giving them the grade , not that they are earning them. Grades especially an "A+" over an "A" say so much and just those few points can mean the world.
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