Bird Droppings April 13, 2010
Getting back the passion

It is not just in teaching but in life we need to seek passion. Passion in life is about looking for that sunrise and or sunset, savoring the colors as they melt into night or change to day time. It is that passion about lifting your child from the crib or that first word or step seeing those first pictures for the hundredth time today. It is that passion of knowing what you did was the best possible at your work place and or something you would be proud to have your name on.

“Nobody can be successful unless he loves his work.” David Sarnoff, CEO of RCA

“You never achieve success unless you like what you are doing.” Dale Carnegie

“I can’t imagine a person becoming a success who doesn’t give this game of life everything he’s got.” Walter Cronkite

As I sit thinking about how we can inspire others to seek passion in life I am wondering how it can be contagious. Our society tends to stifle such endeavors. We seem to seek the quickest and easiest way and program children and each other to that extent. I often fall back on Thoreau leaving teaching to be a learner and that impresses me. His passion to learn to seek knowledge and to seek understanding was in effect contagious as he found he was a far better teacher while a learner.

In the center of your soul
By James Kavanaugh

There is quiet water
In the center of your soul
Where a son or daughter
Can be taught what no man knows
There’s a fragrant garden
In the center of your soul
Where the weak can harden
And a narrow mind can grow
There’s a rolling river
In the center of your soul,
An eternal giver
With a rich and endless flow.
There’s a land of muses
In the center of your soul,
Where the rich are losers
And the poor are free to go.
So remain with me, then,
To pursue another goal
And to find freedom
In the center of your soul.

We walk out so many times only wanting to get to tomorrow. It becomes about simply marking time a tick here and there. I have observed students and children watch adults in their world and try and mimic and be punished for doing what the adults do. Funny how we live life. How many times have I heard and overheard, “Do not do as I do, do what I say”. So seek passion, try and lift your life past that stumbling block, over that bump in the pathway that limits and confines you. James Kavanaugh acknowledges our center to our soul as a special place where we can be who we truly are. As I think we all need to be learners and seekers of more than where we are.

“We must remind ourselves: Learning is one of the most fascinating and rewarding activities for human beings. The desire to learn, to discover, to figure something out, to be able to do something well enough to proclaim it as ones own, must surely be as strong as any impulse within the human soul.” Robert L. Fried, The passionate Learner

I wander about often first thing in the morning trying to see new things and to hear new sounds. Many times it is often a tree frog when weather permits or a bird. Many times an owl will call while I wait for a new sound. As I listen new events and new wonders unfold. I look and see stars, the smile of the moon, neighbor’s lights and trees lacy in the darkness. So many aspects of life we often miss without passion for life.

“Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves?” Friedrich Nietzsche

“Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

So many times I have heard students say a class is boring or a teacher is boring. I have heard some folks even attribute boredom to their own lives. With this I get confused. Perhaps it is not looking deep enough or long enough or listening beyond the awareness of what others want you to hear. Sometimes we do not hear the back ground music only the noise at hand. Nietzsche so often in pessimism hits the nail on the head how can we ever get bored with life. Many years ago I used a set of mule blinders to make a point. So many people travel through life with blinders on, only going in that straight line or where they are pointed. Life is far too grand to limit ourselves with blinders or to not reflect and wonder. I highly recommend my pebble trick. Try tossing pebbles in a pool of water and watching or reflecting on the ripples as they dissipate it is amazingly relaxing and there in a sense of freedom as well.

“Good teaching is as much about passion as it is about reason. It’s about not only motivating students to learn, but teaching them how to learn, and doing so in a manner that is relevant, meaningful, and memorable. It’s about caring for your craft, having a passion for it, and conveying that passion to everyone, most importantly to your students.” Richard Leblanc, York University, Ontario

The word teaching could be substituted for life or any other profession. This is what it is all about getting up in the morning and being excited about the next moments, about each moment and embracing each precious second. I have been sharing a little book “Live like you were dying” by Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman with family and friends over the years.

“Life is a spiritual journey and sometimes all you have to do is show up and have a little faith that something completely amazing is possible any day.” “I’m beginning to suspect that the moment we have been waiting for doesn’t require waiting and the things we’ll remember most won’t be things at all.” ”May we live like we were dying. With passion and purpose and mission and meaning…and with a little abandon. With no forgiveness withheld and no anger held within.” Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman

I have read over and over this little book and listened to the words sung by Tim McGraw and each time another thought or idea comes to mind. Passion we need it to wake each day and use it through the day. You know what it is also reciprocating I have found and contagious so for this wonderful morning please keep all in harms way on your minds and in your hearts. My first email of the morning was from a proud new father at 3:15AM photos of his new baby as his wife just gave birth during the night that is passion.
namaste
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