You do not have to be good - Mary Oliver - forgive and open your eyes

You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

Exert from Wild Geese, a poem by Mary Oliver.

I am not a fan of poetry. I understand that this is a section of literature that I have cut off. I read many other types of writing but, in general, not poetry. Maybe it has to do with the ham-handed way I was taught ("Obviously the albatross is a symbol of guilt/bad luck/good luck/penance." Argh - Just pick one. Or better yet, why a rotting relative of a rooster?).

Now, as a teacher, I know that I shouldn't just blame the teacher for my lack of appreciation. I was that person who had to have explained to him the "glass half empty/glass half full" concept. ( But Alison, both are 50%!)

Back to the present task at hand.

Mary Oliver died recently and the reporting came over my newsfeeds. So I read a poem or two. And maybe I'll read more. I don't know. We'll see.

One of the poems I did read was Wild Geese. A squawking sign of natural rhythms. The quote is from the first line of the poem. That caught my attention. Then the last line grabbed me as well

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination...

Everyone, if he or she is willing to peer outside the mundane happenings of everyday life, has imagination.

The poem is still sinking in for me. The concepts of nature, loneliness, forgiveness, and the others I haven't seen yet all stored in a bushel of words. Challenging, liberating, and sad.

Gratitudes: nice keyboards, coffee, balcony plants.

Comments

Don't trust a skinny cook - Vinne Vrotny - Teacher Hypocrisy

Adults want comfort, but expect students to go into [the] discomfort zone. Are we hypocrites? from Vinnie Vrotny - Blog post Multi-faceted Refractions I live with the thought that I am a hypocrite. I am a teacher almost every day I implore, cajole, push, and pull students to learn more about the immediate subject and themselves. And yet I feel guilty when I don't do the same thing. To find today's quote, I Googled "quotes teacher hypocrisy" and got no love. I got quotes from Don King, Malcom X, Alan Dershowitz (black pot) and others. But no listed, no famous quotes about teachers and hypocrisy. Then I Googled "teacher hypocrisy" and oh boy, were there hits!. Grass roots education ; Condor Voice ; I, Hypocrite Teache r; and today's quote were just a start. I realized that I am not alone. I must admit I also hate lazy teachers. They are robbing students' time. Teaching is a hard job, both emotionally and phy

Anger and Work - Toni Morrison - Tired of being angry

I get angry at things, then go on and work. from: Toni Morrison Author and Teacher Disclosure: I know little about Toni Morrison. Yes, I should read her writings. But I have my own writings to get out of my head. I found this quote because I have become tired of being angry. Maybe I should just scream myself into a coma, but I think I would still wake up anger. Screw the Serenity Prayer. Stuff admonitions of how anger is caused by fear. Stifle thoughts of turning the other cheek. Suffocate ideas of rising above. Smother the idea that this is not productive. But then, a sliver of sanity and the simplicity of Morrison's quote. As I have written before, I like to find the origin of quotes I use, and this one I found (unless this is photoshopped ) So, my two options are to keep my hand in the fire or to move into action. Since I am writing this, I have chosen movement. This entry can be considered the equivalent of picking myself up and brushing myself off.

Constant Growth - Jack Kornfield - Shedding Old Skin

Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again. from: Buddha’s Little Instruction Book I got this one from Good Reads website: And again I doubled search the source and found out that even though it is attributed to Gautama Buddha, it is really from Jack Kornfield. Hats off to Fake Buddha Quotes “I Can't Believe It's Not Buddha!" website. I was pulled to this quote because what I am trying to do is start a new phase in my life. I have done this before, as we all have. Sometimes with more success than others. But when I am getting discouraged, I think "How many rabbits can I pull out of my hat." The past for me, at this point, is to get rid of bad habits and substitute in better ones. Unlike the snake, which has only one skin to shed, we have many "skins." Laziness, Ennui, Memories, Weight, Sedentary days and nights, Wasting time, TV, Facebook, Instagram, Video games, Youtube, "What if's"

Benevolent Quotations

Search This Blog