Tracking the “Unseen”

Today is Palm Sunday. I always find that this day hits me the hardest in the Easter season. I try to struggle through Lent. I give up something that will require work and dedication. I remind myself constantly that my difficulties are far from what many people face. But really, my daily errands have not been a struggle or hardship. The reading of the Passion that happens today always is a very strong reminder of what truth lies out in the world, in the past, and just beyond our daily distractions. I will hear the Passion again during the Holy Week and on the Easter Vigil. But it is this first hearing of the story after a year of time that gives it the strongest pull.

I get asked regularly, and mostly by students I teach, why I decided to become Catholic after being raised in a reasonably agnostic house. I have come to realize that it is because of my interest how things work, in science of nature (physics) and people (counseling and psychology) along with my love of a great story that there is something I can sense throughout it all – a deeper truth, a mystery behind the curtain.

It is difficult to put this into words. Yet, this story about tracking wolves, is the closest I’ve come to finding a metaphor. Thanks again, Coyote for the guidance.

Written on March 29th, 2010 , Finding Our Way, Stories Tags: , , , ,
Philosophy and the “Big Picture”
I have realized the difference between “seeing the big picture” and philosophy. Perhaps it is something that is obvious to many people. It wasn’t to me. I began a new job at a school that has some fundamental differences from the others I had worked at before. I am a principal of an Outreach school. The school is set up to help students who have not experienced success in traditional schools. We provide flexible programs and hours. Students work independently with lots of access to one-on-one help. We offer career and personal counseling and we partner with addiction, mental health and financial services. Students work with a staff member to set goals for attendance and academic work.You see? I knew and believed in the philosophy of the school.

I am just now, at the end of the semester seeing how the bigger picture works. I can look back over the past five months and see why goals are set so that the student can achieve them bu they are also set to edge them to finishing the course on time. I see how each meeting, each partnership helps the student move forward. I see how our phone calls help the kids come back and complete their time commitments. I accepted the philosophy of the school when I applied for the job. I need to follow through on the commitment. The big picture needs to come together to make the philosophy a reality.

Written on March 29th, 2010 , Uncategorized Tags: , ,
Finding the Rhythym
In order to grow in my awareness, I’ve been trying to be mindful of the flow and rhythm of the day around me. I believe I am getting to understand how the flow of energy is in my school. It is not all that great of a mystery. The first hour is quiet. Some are ready to work. Most are not even in the building. This is the time that the staff and I use to get fully into the South. We have already gone through our morning routine at our homes. We’ve acclimatized ourselves to the work day and have habits formed through dedication to our education, our own health, and family commitments. The students are still learning.The second hour and through noon passes back and forth from South to Southwest as the work period comes and goes. Within that rhythm, some students cycle very quickly. I’ve just noticed one student who can only give 5 – 10 minutes before he must transition. We need a way to help catch that and support him. Others have different times.

The afternoon it is harder to transition to South but there are strategies in place. Some afternoons have physical activity and group work. This seems to help. The fact that it is only two hours of work after lunch keeps the end within sight. Even the staff seems to be on a mode of work that is preparing for wrapping up the day and readying for the next.

What I learned today was my own responses to rhythms. Today was one were there was very little to do. I thought it would be a good time to keep my own flow going and find work. Something, a project, to work on. The end of the day was the opposite. I was balancing many demands and was very busy with much effort used to just keep everything (especially myself) in order. What I’ve noticed, in that time of quiet and slowness, was that enemy of “busy”ness. It was a good time to just watch, to learn, to allow the energy to be slower. Instead, I had to fill it with activity . . .

Much as I am doing now.

Written on January 1st, 2010 , Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,
Tracking and Angelina Jolie
The family was away visiting in the city. It was an opportunity for me to rent a movie that I would enjoy and would not have to worry about the kids’ or my wife’s tastes. This usually means a movie with lots of action, pure excitement and escape – ism. I wandered the racks and found Wanted. I recalled the commercials and trailers. It also starred Angelina Jolie. I don’t think I need to say more on that.

The movie gave everything it promised. I thoroughly enjoyed the action, the characters and the chance to just sit back and relax. By the end of the movie I had a large smile on my face.

The main character has a boring life. Angelina Jolie shows up, very similar to Morpheus in the Matrix, to show how he is actually part of a larger story. Wanted, Matrix, Star Wars (Episode IV), Men in Black, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy all portray characters finding themselves in a much bigger story than they expected. And they are an integral part of that larger story important to how it all ends, whether it is the good guys that win or the bad.

A group of grade 10′s and some adults were walking through the trees early in the spring. I noticed the deer prints and the scat that littered the area. As I looked closer, the tracks were all heading in different directions. I pictured deer wandering through the trees just the night before. I felt a keen connection to that place knowing that just a few hours ago the herd was right here. Then some one much more experienced than I walked up. He pointed out how fresh the tracks were. I filled up with pride knowing my conclusion was correct. “Those deer are just playing around the edge of us. Waiting for us to leave.”

My reverence and awe deepened. Were they actually here only moments ago? Where were they now? Just out of our sight? We were all in the middle of a deeper story, a story that was not just us walking through the woods, but a with a large group of deer just beyond our edge of awareness – except for the tracks they had left.

A friend of mine talks about us all being part of a larger picture, a deeper story, an EPIC story where we are the pivotal character. It is a battle of good against evil. It exists just outside of our regular world. I am beginning to get more hints of the reality of this story more often. Maybe I’m getting better at tracking, seeing the clues left around and pushing the edges of my awareness. Take some time to do the same.

Written on April 5th, 2009 , Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,
Horses, Psychology and Teaching

I’ve just had a wonderful weekend. Perhaps I was motived because it was the last long weekend before school opened for another school year. I finally made a point to get out and go for a ride. I went for a short one (about an hour) on Saturday and Sunday each. Then, on Monday morning I was gone for a good three hours touring the river valley with a couple friends. I came back refreshed and feeling completely incompetent.
I unloaded my frustrations on my wife is also my informal riding coach. She is the real horse person in the house. She’s read the complete works of Bill Dorrance and Ray Hunt. The more I ride the more I’m aware of the little things that are wrong in the relationship Chiquita and I share. My wife has given me many things to try to get the proper feel and proper respect. I find little of the advice helpful. I understand the theory but the practice eludes me.

The problems began to make sense latter that night when I snuck under a blanket with the reading material I have to go through for my online course on counseling skills. The course is about creating a working alliance and how important it is when working with clients. I’m taking this course to gain some skills. I love to help the students I work with but I run short of strategies quickly. This is where my realization came. Chiquita and I have a working alliance. It is strong right now on transference with little real trust and rapport.

My wife smiled and commented on how teaching is making me a better horse person. It seems that working with horses is beginning to make me a better teacher.

Written on September 2nd, 2008 , Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

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Eastern Desert

An educator's thoughts on life and such stuff . . .